


A life changing mistake

by Marce



Series: Consequences [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Case Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Danny "Danno" Williams, Hurt/Comfort, Loss of Trust, Protective Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-08-23 10:45:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16617476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marce/pseuds/Marce
Summary: It's been only five minutes ... Five endless minutes that changed his life forever. Danny is caught in a downward spiral when he realizes he won't be able to get out of it alone. There is only one person capable of helping him to overcome the consequences of a terrible mistake.





	1. An unexpected twist of fate.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to a new story. It's an idea that came to my mind while watching episode 8x07. Fortunately for Steve, things didn't turn out as badly as he thought at first. But what would happen if one of our boys had to face the consequences of a terrible mistake, committed during the fulfillment of his duty?
> 
> It's a story that explores the risks faced by all those involved in the law enforcement, and the possibility, always present, that something beyond their control, happens and changes their life forever.
> 
> Thanks to my incredible beta, Hugo, for his time and his amazing ideas. Although we have checked several times, there are probably some spelling or grammatical errors. Please excuse me if you find any.
> 
> As usual, I'm going to publish the new chapters every 1 or 2 days. Thank you very much for reading and please let me know what you think.
> 
> Disclaimer: All the characters and situations inherent in the Hawaii five-0 TV show, are owned by its creators and CBS. They are taken back for entertainment purposes only. No money or goods have been exchanged in the publishing of this story.
> 
> Enjoy reading!

**Chapter 1: An unexpected twist of fate.**

The phone ring sounds, insistent, piercing his ears painfully. He can't move to reach it ... to end that sonorous torture which hurts him, tearing his brain. An indefinite mist surrounds him when he tries to open his eyes, but his heavy eyelids refuse to obey him. Finally, the sound stops and he sighs in relief ... lets the sleep knock him down again, trying not to think ... trying to forget, at least for a couple of hours, everything he has lost, what has been hopelessly broken inside of him.

The noise of his house front door when it closes, wakes him up again ... An intense light comes pouring through the window, hurting his eyes and indicating the time, it must be about noon. He listens to the unmistakable steps moving through the house and entering his room. He keeps his eyes closed, waiting in vain for him to give up ... to give up and leave.

He feels the mattress sinking when his visitor sits on the bed. He listens to his deep sigh of frustration ... he is tempted to open his eyes and argue against the unwelcome visitor... to tell him to go away, to leave him alone with his pain ... He only wants to sleep because it's the only way not to think ... because he doesn't want to think.

"Do you really want to make me believe you're asleep?" The man asks in a soft voice. A hoarse growl is his only response, as he moves on the bed to turn his back and places the pillow over his head in order to avoid the sharp sting of light, intense and hot, that penetrates his eyes through his closed eyelids.

"Come on Danno! ..." He listens again to his friend's voice, soft, calm, without anger. That understanding voice that has come to awaken him every single day, since all that shit happened. The voice speaks again, "Gracie has come to see me this morning, Danny, she's worried!"

Danny feels when Steve gets up and he can hear, through the pillow, his friend walking around the room.

He knows Steve is cleaning the mess of the night before; Danny doesn't need to look to see him pick up, as he has done every morning for the last two weeks, the empty bottles of beer, abandoned randomly on the floor of his bedroom.

At last a hoarse, expressionless voice. A voice he can't recognize as his, says, while rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands to ward off the intense headache, "Why are you coming to bother me, Steven? ... It's not like I have to go somewhere. "

Slowly, Danny straightens up, sitting on the edge of the bed for a few seconds, then, he stands up and limps to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. A couple of minutes later, he listens to his partner's voice saying, "Take a shower, Danno ... I'll make some coffee."

Tired, Danny opens the tap, waiting for the steam to invade the bathroom, while reluctantly takes his clothes off and gets in the shower. He allows hot water to hit his back and shoulders, and slide down along his body, until it disappears through the drain. He wishes it could take something else with it... He wishes guilt and despair would fade away as easily as the little swirl of water and soap foam.

A few minutes later, he comes out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, the hair disheveled and deep dark circles around his eyes, sunken cheeks and sagging shoulders. He looks in the mirror attached to the wall of his bedroom, the man who looks back is just a shadow of himself. Without wanting to, he puts on some shorts and a faded T-shirt, and leaves the room walking slowly to the kitchen. Standing by the door, Dannylooks at Steve who is serving two cups of coffee.

He sits in front of the counter, drinking small sips of the hot, bitter drink and says in an angry voice. "Listen to me Steve ... I appreciate what you're doing... I do... but I really don't need it ... Everything I want is to be alone."

Steve looks at him, standing in the middle of the kitchen with one hand resting on the badge fastened to his belt, and holding the steaming cup with the other ... "That's not going to happen Danno. I'm not going to leave you alone ... The last thing you need now is drop yourself into a nonsense depression. "

"Nonsense depression?" Danny lets the anger flood his voice. "How do you know if my depression makes sense or not? This didn't happen to you, Steven ... It happened to me! and I'm the only one who can understand!. So I'll thank you if you just go away and leave me in peace, once and for all!" Furious, he throws the cup which crashes against the wall, breaking into a thousand pieces and splashing coffee everywhere.

Steve doesn't look surprised by his friend's reaction. Quiet, he places his cup on the counter and goes to pick up the pieces of pottery that have been scattered on the floor and takes a towel to clean up the mess, until Danny comes and takes him by the arm, more angry for his apparent impassibility. He wishes Steve would scream and get angry, because then Danny would have a pretext to vent. But his friend's calm attitude ends up exasperating him. "Stop cleaning! ..." He yells, "I don't need you to do this ..."

"So tell me, what do you need?" Steve firmly takes Danny's hand, pulling it away from his arm, but without raising his voice.

"I just need you to leave ..." Danny yells. "Don't you get it? I need to be alone!"

"Don't do this, Danny!" Steve's voice sounds pleading.

"Don't do what, Steven? I'm furious! ... What happened was so unfair! ... Yes, I know I made a mistake and I screwed it up. I know all this was my fault! "

"I'm not blaming you, Danny ... I'm just trying to help you to get through this. Believe me, I understand what you're going through now ... "

"You don't understand a damn thing! ... You are the Super SEAL; the perfect commander and the people's hero! The one who never makes a mistake ... You have no idea what it is to face an error like this and have to live the rest of your life with it ... You throw yourself into danger every day without caring about the consequences! But I'm not like you, Steve ... The consequences of what happened are going to haunt me forever!" Danny's breathing is agitated and his face contracts with anger. "I don't even know who I am anymore!... This has completely changed what I was ... You have no idea about everything I've lost!"

Steve looks at Danny, trying to hide the pain his friend's words have caused in his soul, "You're a cop, Danny ... That's who you are!" He pauses, trying to calm his voice, "You have to face this and get over it."

"Well, maybe I don't want to be a cop anymore, Steve!" Danny walks to the coffee table, where he threw his gun and badge last night. He bends and picks up the badge, stroking it gently with his thumb. A few seconds later, he feels a renewed anger and throws it against Steve, who leans to avoid the blow. "Here you are! ..." Danny shouts, "I'm not a cop anymore! Take it and get out of here, right now! "

Feeling a deep sadness, Steve leans down and picks up Danny's badge from the floor. He realizes that this situation, far from helping his friend, is causing him more pain. He walks to the door while saying, "Okay ... I'll go now. But I want you to know I'm with you in this, you don't need to do this alone... No matter what happens, I'll always be here for you, okay? "

Danny looks down at the floor, trying futilely to hold back the tears which slide down his cheeks. As he passes in front of him, Steve places a hand on his shoulder, but Danny takes a step back and turns his face to the other side, so his friend can't see his tears. "I'll see you, Danny. If you need me, you just have to call me and I'll be here." Steve says softly, then, he puts the badge on the coffee table and leaves slowly, closing the door behind him. Danny opens the curtain slightly and looks out the window at Steve, who walks sadly to the Silverado.

A few seconds later, Danny turns his back against the wall, slowly, he slides until he drops himself on the floor with his knees bent and hides his face in his hands. Heartbreaking sobs escape from his chest as the vertiginous swirl of memories returns to his head, tormenting him ... Memories of the day when everything happened ... of the few minutes in which that unexpected twist of fate changed his life forever.


	2. This is a Nightmare

**Chapter 2: This is a nightmare**

_Danny turns his back against the wall, sliding until he drops himself on the floor with his knees bent and hides his face in his hands. Heartbreaking sobs escape from his chest as the vertiginous swirl of memories returns to his head, tormenting him ... Memories of the day when everything happened ... of the few minutes in which that unexpected twist of fate changed his life forever._

* * *

Two weeks earlier

Danny goes through the glass door of Five-0's headquarters, with a half-eaten malasada in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other. He looks around with surprise when he sees the deserted offices and looks at his watch, it's almost noon. He checks his phone, looking for lost calls which can explain the team's absence, telling him everyone has left for a case: No calls.

At that moment, Junior and Tani arrive at the HQ, talking loudly, "I can't believe it! ..." she says, "you must be kidding ..."

"I swear to you, Tani!" the young SEAL answers, laughing, "When I got there the guy had vomited all his breakfast on the pretty assistant who looked at him surprised! ... I think she charged him the laundry bill and a pair of new shoes. "

Tani laughs loud, but a second later, they both fall silent to see Danny's intrigued expression, the detective is standing next to the smart table. "What's wrong?" Junior asks.

Danny answers impatiently, "That's what I'd like to know ... I'm here at noon and there's no one in sight."

Tani frowns and asks, "Where's McGarrett?"

Danny shakes his head and answers, "No idea!" Resigned, he walks to his office, closing the door. After spending a few seconds trying to remember an appointment that Steve has scheduled with the governor, he takes the phone and dials his partner's number, but the call sends directly to voicemail.

Five minutes later, Steve and Lou arrive running. Jerry follows them, sweating and breathing hard. Tani, Junior and Danny meet them at the smart table. "What is it?" Danny asks.

Steve raises his head and looks at him with anger, "Shooting and hostages at a high school in Waipahu." He leans in to insert an SD memory card and some images appear on the screen, while Steve begins to explain, "HPD got there an hour ago. A professor called 911 saying there was a group of armed guys wearing ski masks, the group had broken into the Chemistry lab in the middle of a class. "

Jerry types on the table and the audio file of the 911 call starts playing.

"911, what is your emergency?" The professional voice of the operator.

The professor's voice sounds fearful, interrupted by occasional sobs, "This is Professor Kani from Waipahu High School ... there are some armed men ... threatening students in the chemistry lab."

"Can you tell me how many men are there?"

"I managed to see four ... They are wearing ski masks... Oh my God! They are shooting! "

The operator asks, "Are you safe? Can you see them right now? "

"I ran out ... I hid in the supply closet to call you... Come soon, please, hurry up!"

"We are sending the police ... stay on the line until they arrive."

At that moment, a loud blow and some inarticulate cries are heard. The anguished voice of the professor begins to scream and the call is interrupted suddenly.

"That's all ..." Lou says, HPD has secured the perimeter, but they have not been able to enter the building. Apparently, the armed group blocked the entrances and placed explosives on them.

Steve says, "The governor has asked Five-0 to take care of the case ... Get ready, we'll be out in five minutes." He starts walking towards his office, while saying, "Jerry, try to get the images from the school security cameras and all the information you can get about the students, teachers and administrative staff. I want to know if they are going after someone special ..."

Quickly gets into his office, and begins to set his equipment. Puts his Kevlar vest on, after replenishing the inventory of grenades, tear gas and spare ammunition. Checks his SIG Sauer and places it in the holster on his waist. He goes to the weapons locker and starts taking out some assault rifles and ammunition. Five minutes later, the team leaves the HQ, heading Waipahu.

* * *

When arriving in front of the building, Steve gets out of the Camaro and walks towards a SWAT captain who sighs with relief at seeing him. "Commander ... I have orders to put my team at your command..."

Danny walks next to Steve, while asking, "Have you had contact with those guys?"

"Not yet ... We don't know yet what they want. They placed explosives with mercury switches on all the access doors, the Bomb squad has checked them, but they are waiting for you. "

At that moment, the chief of the bomb squad approaches them. "What do we have, chief?" Steve asks.

"There are four possibilities of get into the school. Two entrances in the back of the building, the door that faces Hula Street and the main entrance. These guys placed explosive devices with C4 charges in the four accesses, controlled by movement-sensitive mercury switches. If someone tries to open them, the devices will explode.

"What can we do chief?" Lou asks.

"We could create a controlled explosion, but that would alert the kidnappers and they could hurt the hostages; we could also try to deactivate one of them, delaying the explosion with liquid nitrogen, but I think it's very risky ... a small mistake and the thing will explode."

Steve is thinking, as he walks from one side to another and asks, "Are you sure there's no other way to get into the building?" The chief pulls out some plans and extends them into the Camaro trunk. "Not according to the construction plans."

Danny asks, "Has anyone tried to communicate with any of the kids? We need to have a pair of eyes inside to tell us what is happening. "

"Some of the parents have tried to call their kids, but the phones are disconnected. These guys must have activated a signal jammer" The SWAT captain goes with the bomb squad leader, leaving the members of Five-0. Steve picks up his phone and presses a speed dial button. "Jerry ... Do you have access to the security cameras?"

"They are inactivated ... The only thing I could obtain were the recordings of two hours ago, when the kidnappers entered the building ... After that, there's nothing." Steve continues walking. Something isn't right…

As always, Danny gets ahead of his thoughts and asks, "What are you thinking?"

"This doesn't make any sense, Danny ... They enter the building and place the explosives on all possible escape routes? Where do they plan to go?" He rubs his eyes with the palm of his hand and says "Jerry ... Check the original construction plans of the main school building. I suspect that the plans the chief showed us are not correct. "

"I'm on that ... I'll call you" Jerry answers and ends the call.

The SWAT captain comes up with a phone in his hand, saying, "It's one of them! He want to talk to you ..." the man gives the phone to Steve who says, "This is Lieutenant Commander McGarrett, Who am I talking to, please?"

"I'm the person who has two hundred and fifty students, thirty teachers and other staff members as hostages ... If you want to recover them, alive, you have to bring five million dollars in non-consecutive bills and a helicopter to the main entrance of the school. You have one hour, commander, or I'll start killing hostages."

"How do I know the hostages are okay?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to trust me. Five million and the helicopter commander ... One hour. " The call ends abruptly.

"Is this all for money?" Danny asks, incredulous. His partner shakes his head but says nothing. His phone starts ringing again. "Jerry. What did you get?"

"You were right ... The school made major renovations three years ago and to obtain the permits, they handed out the plans the chief of the bomb squad showed you, but I found the original plans. There is a basement which doesn't appear in the new plans, I'm sending the images to your phone at this time. Apparently the basement is attached to an underground tunnel that connects with the city's water system. It's supposed to have been closed shortly after the tsunami in October 2012. "

"Is there another access?"

Jerry starts looking at the map of Oahu's intricate water supply network and finds the closest one, "There's an entrance at the corner of Pupupuhi and Farrington."

"Okay... Thanks Jerry. You found something about the students or teachers? Is there anyone who might be of interest to these guys? "

"Still nothing ... Everyone seems to be normal guys, there are no politicians, not even families of rich people."

"Keep looking Jerry. These guys are asking for money, but I suspect this is about something else." Steve ends the call and looks at the other team members. "Okay ... This is what we're going to do. Danny, Tani, Junior and I will enter through the tunnel and try to reach the school basement. We will try to find out how many guys are there and what they really want. Lou, stay and coordinate with the SWAT captain to see if they can come up with another way to find out the kidnappers intentions. "

* * *

Ten minutes later, Steve, Danny and the kids begin to run through the tunnel, guided by the GPS signal that Jerry has sent to their phones. Shortly after, they find a heavy metal grate, the chain that should secure it, is broken, Tani says, "Our boys plan to go out this way." They quickly open the door and get into the school basement.

The room is dark, lit only by the flashlight of Steve's gun. After crossing the long room the four approach a door that has a narrow window in the middle. Steve opens the door slowly and, seeing there's nobody there, they begin to walk the dark corridors.

The team arrives at the stairs and begins to climb cautiously, ready with their assault rifles. Steve goes to the head and Danny covers the rear. Upon reaching the top, Steve beckons the kids to go to the left, towards the administrative office area, while he walks to the right, where the chemistry lab is. Danny starts to follow him, but at the last minute, he hears a sharp thud behind him and, without telling his partner, he goes back down the stairs.

A black silhouette moves in the dark, running down the basement corridor, Danny runs behind. As he turns a corner, he sees that the fugitive opens a door and enters a room, leaving the door half-closed.

Heart pounding in his throat, Danny approaches slowly. When he is a few feet away from the door he says, "Five-0! Get out with your hands up! "

The only response is a couple of gunshots from the room. Danny throws himself to the ground but in the last second, he stumbles over some plastic boxes that are pinned against the wall, the rifle escapes from his hands, sliding across the damp floor. Danny turns, hiding behind the boxes and draws his gun, shouting, "I'm not going to repeat it, it's Five-0, put your gun down and come out with your hands up!"

Two more shots against him and Danny places his knee on the ground, aims and shoots four times towards the black rectangle between the wall and the door. A grunt and the unmistakable sound of a falling body, followed by a deep silence. Not knowing what to expect, Danny leans back behind the boxes and asks for backup over the intercom.

* * *

It's only been a few seconds, when Steve realizes Danny is no longer following him, he starts walking back towards the stairs calling him in a low voice, "Danny! ..." Soon he meets Tani and Junior returning from the office area. Tani asks, "Where's Danny?"

Steve shakes his head and answers, "He was right behind me ... Guys, go to the lab and try to get a visual of the kidnappers, I'm going to look for Danny."

Steve starts walking downstairs, when he hears the first gunshots. Without thinking, he runs down and goes through the corridor, calling his partner. Another series of gunshots is heard and Steve feels he goes crazy. "Danny! ..."

"Here ... I'm here!" He sighs when he hears his partner's voice, lights up with the flashlight and looks at the blond detective crouched behind the pile of boxes. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

"I heard noises and I went down to see ... Someone shot at me, I think I hurt him."

At that moment, a great confusion begins. The kidnappers, alerted by the gunshots, appear by the door of the laboratory and  they are quickly knocked down by Tani and Junior, who ask for reinforcements to SWAT and HPD.

The chief of the bomb squad decides to detonate the device placed at the entrance of Hula Steet, and everybody enter the building. Twenty minutes later, the hostages begin to leave the school building, safe and sound. Three kidnappers lie on the ground, with bullet holes in their chest and head.

Steve and Danny are informed by the intercom, when they cautiously approach the dark room in the basement. Without holstering his gun, Steve illuminates the area and gently pushes the door. On the floor, three or four feet from the door, there's a body knocked down in the middle of a blood puddle. Steve leans over and places his fingers on the body's neck without finding a pulse. Then, gently rotates a woman's body.

Steve starts moving the flashlight around the room, trying to figure out if there is someone else, but the room is deserted. He quickly finds the switch and turns on the dim light of a small bulb hanging from the ceiling. The room is a small supplies closet.

"Who is she? ... Why did she shoot at me? " Danny asks, trying to catch his breath.

"She shot at you Danny?" Steve asks, frowning and unsuccessfully searching for a weapon on the floor next to the corpse. "She doesn't have a gun. Was there someone else here? "

"I don't know ... I didn't see anyone else, but... someone shot at me!" Steve calls the paramedics and he and Danny start checking the place trying to find the gun or some other suspect.

An hour later, they leave the building. Danny's confusion has no limits, he tries to force his memory, to remember something else, but the scene repeats itself, in the same way in his mind, over and over again. If the woman didn't have a gun, then who fired?

Noelani comes behind them, pushing the stretcher with the woman's body. When leaving, a group of students meets with them; two girls cover their mouths with the hands, while they begin to cry and say "Oh, my God! It's Professor Kani! "

Danny feels the world is spinning! A professor? Steve approaches him and asks in a low voice "What the hell happened down there Danny?"

He doesn't answer and begins to walk towards the Camaro, with great anguish in his face and sunken shoulders. Before following him, Steve looks at the ME and says, "I need you to hurry this, Noelani, I need the ballistics report as soon as possible."

* * *

Two hours later, both friends are sitting in Steve's office. Danny has barely said two words since they arrived, rejecting all of his partner's attempts to reassure him. At that moment, Eric approaches the door, knocking gentle twice with his knuckles, Steve beckons him to enter and stands up, without looking at Danny who is still sitting on the couch with a lost look.

"What's going on, Eric?" Steve asks.

"The CSU team finished processing the school's basement supplies closet," he lowers his voice cautiously looking at Danny and says, "They have not found any weapons." Danny shakes his head from side to side in disbelief. "There's another problem," Eric continues, hesitating, "Noelani took three bullets out of Professor Kani's body and we have the ballistics report ..."

"And ...?" Steve asks, anxious.

"We have a match..." Eric answers, noticing Danny has raised his head, hesitating for a moment, he looks at his uncle with compassion and says "The bullets came out from your gun ..."


	3. Going downhill: an unwanted visitor.

**Chapter 3: Going downhill: an unwanted visitor.**

**_"We have a match..." Eric answers, noticing Danny has raised his head, looks at him with deep compassion and says "The bullets came out from your gun ..."_ **

An overwhelming feeling of dizziness invades him. Danny quickly gets up and leaves like a whirlwind out of Steve's office, running to his own. Without turning on the lights, he collapses in the chair behind his desk and tilts his head to rest on the hard and bright surface. How the hell did this happen? Someone shot at him from that closet. He's sure he returned the fire ... But CSU didn't manage to find the gun and now a professor is dead ... An innocent civilian! And he killed her! Tears burst forth, uncontrollable, as he tries to stifle the sobs that crowd his chest.

Lou is at the door of his own office, when he sees Danny running by. Fearing the worst, he approaches Steve's office, where he and Eric are standing, in a heavy and oppressive silence. Steve looks up and his eyes meet Lou's, then he looks at Eric and says, "Thanks, Eric ... Listen, please don't talk about this with anyone until we know what we're up against, okay?"

"Of course ... I'll be in the lab to see if something new comes up that can help you guys."

"Okay, buddy. Thanks again".

Eric leaves the office, depressed, he doesn't want to imagine the consequences that can bring the fact of his dear uncle D has shot an unarmed civilian.

Lou approaches Steve, who is looking worried towards Danny's dark office. "What happened? ..." Steve seems not to hear the captain's question, Lou insists, "Steve ... Steve!" finally, McGarrett's eyes meet again with Lou's, who repeats the question, "What happened?"

"We have the ballistics results ... The bullets Noelani took out of the professor's body, came out of Danny's gun ..." Steve sighs and drops himself in the chair.

"Have the CSU guys finished processing the scene?"

Steve nods silently, Lou pushes him, "Did they find something to explain why Danny fired?"

"Danny says someone shot against him, Lou, and he fired in response."

"Could he have been confused?" The captain asks, cautiously. When he sees McGarrett's incredulous look, he asks, "Is there no chance that he was confused?" Steve denies and answers, "No, Lou."

"Listen, it was dark down there and everyone was stressed ... Professor Kani said in her 911 call, that she had hidden in the supply closet, didn't she? Maybe Danny saw her and he thought she was one of the kidnappers. Surely Danny identified himself as Five-0 and she, scared, ignored his warning. Everything I'm saying is that maybe this was an accident, Steve."

"No, Lou!" Steve answers, raising his voice, "Danny says someone shot at him ... If he says that, I believe him..." Noticing the captain looks down, Steve lowers his voice and says, "Listen , Lou ... There was three bodies of the kidnappers in the scene, the professor in her 911 call, clearly said there were four, Lou ... Four guys! ... The fourth man was in that basement and he shot at Danny! I want to know how the hell that bastard escaped! and I want to know it now! Are we clear?"

At that moment, Tani pokes his head through the door, looking at her boss and saying, "Someone is looking for you." Steve looks up to see the visitors ... An expression of displeasure is drawn on his face when he sees the man, who stands next to the Governor, next to the smart table. Lou looks at him and asks, "Who is that guy?"

Steve gets up slowly and answers in a low voice, "Internal Affairs ..." He walks to his office door and opens it slowly, "Governor ... Sergeant Cage ..."

"Commander McGarrett ... I can see you remember me!"

"You're not an easy person to forget, Sergeant ... unfortunately ... What can I do for you?" Steve's voice overflows with sarcasm.

"I come to inform you there will be an investigation regarding the  _'incident'_  in the high school building."

"There was someone shooting and Detective Williams fired in response... the suspect escaped. That's what happened! "

Cage attacks again, "You were there, Commander?"

Steve straightens his back, "Detective Williams is under my command, this is my team, and all his actions are my responsibility."

"You didn't answer my question, Commander ..."

"I did ... Sergeant Cage ... What happened at that building is completely my responsibility."

Cage takes a deep breath. He knows McGarrett is a tough man, hard to beat. In a falsely condescending tone he says, "Look, Commander ... I'm going to recommend you not to interfere with this investigation ... You know there are a lot of complaints from several HPD members about the way Five-0 skips the procedures ... Only this time, things got out of control and an innocent civilian was killed ... "

Trying to remain calm, Steve decides to ignore the comment and looks at the Governor, "Oh come on! Governor, we all know there must be an explanation for what happened ... Detective Williams' service file is impeccable, and you know that! ... All I ask is you let me investigate thoroughly what happened, before these guys crucify him," he says, pointing to the sergeant, who looks at him angrily.

Cage is about to answer, but the governor raises her right hand asking for silence. "Let's go to your office, Commander ..." she says in an impassive voice, as she sees that Tani, Junior and Lou are listening to the discussion with great interest. Beyond, Danny stands by the glass wall of his office, watching helplessly, how his destiny is decided.

Steve walks to his office, followed by the governor and Sergeant Cage. Opens the door and moves to let them to get in. Without paying attention to Cage, he looks at the governor and points to the chair, sitting a few seconds later.

"Commander McGarrett ... I don't know if you remember when I told you what Governor Denning had told me about Five-0." Steve nods silently and she continues, "After almost two years of working with you, to watch you fight bravely against all kinds of enemies and save the island from various  _'extreme situations_ ', I must say that you and your team have earned my respect ..."

Sergeant Cage wants to reply again, but she says, raising her voice, "I have not finished yet, sergeant! ... Commander ... for the respect I have for you, I will grant what you're asking ... Investigate this thoroughly and find that explanation." A slight smile is drawn on Steve's face, and he says in a very low voice, "Thank you ... "

"Don't thank me yet. I can't prevent Internal Affairs from doing its own investigation, Commander ... " looking at Cage she says, "Sergeant, I warn you, you should not hinder the progress McGarrett and his team make during the investigation. You won't harass any member of his team, until everything that happened in the high school building has been perfectly solved, regardless of the result." Without hiding his displeasure Cage nods.

"Commander ... for the sake of this investigation, Detective Williams will be suspended, until we know what really happened there." Steve raises his head again and, frowning, he says, "A man is innocent until someone proves otherwise, governor ..."

"Yes ... but this is a delicate situation ... I guess you understand the conflict of interest here ... Detective Williams should not investigate a case involving him directly ..." Before Steve can reply again, she says, "It's my last word, Commander. ... Now, as the man in charge of this unit, you must inform the detective of this decision ... Although, if you prefer, I can do it myself ".

Resigned, Steve looks down and says, "That won't be necessary ... I'll talk to Detective Williams."

She gets up and says, "Okay, gentlemen. Keep me informed." She leaves the office, followed by Sergeant Cage, who intentionally avoids the look of the Five-0 team members.

Steve leaves his office, walking slowly and meets the team next to the smart table. Junior, expectantly, asks, "Sir ...?"

"We must investigate this ..." Steve starts to answer, but suddenly stops when he sees Danny leaving his office and walking towards him. Steve's heart wrinkles when he sees his friend, overwhelmed by sadness and guilt. He knows that the investigation of internal affairs is what worries Danny the least ... As always, the detective will be his own judge ... the most ruthless judge.

Steve grabs his phone and presses a speed dial button, "Jerry ... I need you to come up, buddy. We have work to do ... " Then, he puts the phone in his pants pocket and, after a deep sigh, he tells everyone, "Okay. Tani and Junior, I want you to go back to the high school building and check that basement again. The fourth guy couldn't vanish in the air, there must be another exit there ... look for it... Junior, check every corner, under the furniture, everywhere... CSU could have omitted something, look for a gun, empty bullet shells, whatever ... This guy shot at Danny, he must left something behind!"

At that moment, Jerry enters through the door. "Lou, you and Jerry find out everything you can about the three kidnappers ... anything that can help us to identify the fourth guy ... That bastard is out there, believing he's got rid of this, so let's catch him ..."

"You got it ..." Lou answers and Jerry starts opening files and typing instructions on the smart table.

Before the kids leave, Steve stops them and says, "There will be an Internal Affairs investigation, but the Governor has tied their hands ... at least for the moment. No one from Five-0 should talk to Cage or his people, understood?" Everyone nod and go back to work.

Danny approaches Steve and looks at him fixedly, "And, what about me?"

Steve looks back at him and says in a firm voice, "You're coming with me ..."

They both walk back to the corner office and Steve opens the door, allowing Danny to enter first. As he sits down, Steve says, "I guess you saw the Governor and your friend, Sergeant Cage ..."

"Yeah ... I guess it was just a matter of time to give Cage a chance to stick his nose in Five-0. He's been trying to do that for years ... "

Steve nods sadly, "I asked the Governor for time, Danny ... time to investigate this and find the bastard responsible for this disaster ... She agreed ..."

Noticing the doubt in Steve's voice, Danny asks, "But ...?"

"She can't stop Cage from starting his own investigation ... I'm not going to lie to you Danny, this won't be easy, but I'm here and I'm going to have your back. Do you understand?"

"There's something else, isn't it?"

Steve nods sadly and says, "The governor told me you're suspended until all this situation has been resolved ..."

"So she assumes I'm guilty ... and from what I see, you too ... Someone shot at me, Steven! And I fired back! ... "

"I know ... Danno!"

"Don't call me Danno! ... Not now ..." Danny makes a pause and then asks, "Is it just me or you can see the irony in this matter too? All these years trying to be the voice of reason for all your follies ... trying to teach you the proper police procedure to avoid you getting into a problem like this ... and look at me now! ... It turned out that I'm the one who screwed up everything for not following the procedure ... !" Danny screams helplessly. Steve knows his friend's words are only a defense mechanism, but he can't stop them from hurting like hell!.

"I just want to know one thing, Steve ... One thing ... You... do you believe me?"

"Of course!" Danny misunderstands the sadness in Steve's voice, confusing it with doubt ... His best friend doubts him ... Wounded in the depth of his heart, Danny says scornfully, "You're really a very bad liar, Steven! ..." Angry, he begins to walk to the door, but Steve asks, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going home ... I'm suspended, right? ... Now I understand what Chin felt ... Internal Affairs wins and gets that all those you thought were your friends, give up on you ... "

"I'm not giving up on you, Danny! None of us are... I promise we'll do whatever it takes to prove that you shot for a justified reason ... Please, trust me! "

"Why should I trust you ... if you don't trust me?" The bitterness that pervades Danny's question hits Steve, who closes his eyes and lets himself fall into the chair, not looking at his friend who comes out furious of his office and passes like a flurry in front of the surprised look of Jerry and Lou.

Lou walks to Steve's office and enters, sitting in front of the dejected commander, "I guess he didn't take it very well ..."

"I don't blame him, Lou ... The governor forced me to suspend him!"

"He's angry, Steve, and he feels guilty ... Give him some time and he'll calm down."

"No, Lou ... Danny's right."

"He's right about what?"

"Sergeant Cage doesn't give a fuck about the truth, Lou. He has been years trying to sink the tooth into Five-0's heart, saying that my military procedures go against everything that HPD represents... Do you remember when Coughlin almost put Chin in jail? Cage felt they had succeeded al last, but his frustration was immense when Chin was exonerated. Now he has the golden opportunity to take us down ..."

"What are you talking about? ... take us down?"

Steve smiles bitterly, "This is on me, Lou, it's my fault! ... Do you really think this is just about Danny? Cage and Internal Affairs go after me ... Danny is the instrument for it ... if we don't find out soon what the hell happened in that school, all our cases, present and past, will be questioned ... That's what Cage wants ... "

"And the results? ... No one can question that, Steve. Five-0 is the most successful task force in Hawaii's history and it's all thanks to you. "

"In the end that won't matter, Lou ... and all those results are not just on me. It's the incredible team we have formed, and mainly, it's thanks to Danny ... he's the one who has held me all these years ... he has prevented me from get into trouble ..." Lou looks at Steve, sympathetic, but remains silent, letting his friend pull out of his chest everything he has to say.

"You don't understand, do you? ... When you're in a deserted place in Afghanistan, facing a group of angry Taliban, who won't hesitate to rip your head off, as soon as they have the opportunity, your team is the only thing you have, and the mission is the only thing that matters ... There are collateral damages and you assume that, because you know it's impossible to avoid them, no matter how hard you try ... but here, everything is so different ".

Steve breathes a couple of times, trying to calm down, "At first, I didn't know that ... I thought I was invincible because I believed that, what had worked in Afghanistan would work here ... Danny taught me it's not like that ... He has been with me, saving me from myself ... And now I'm not going to let him down! ... I swear I'll find out the truth to get him out of this, even if it's the last thing I do in my life ... "


	4. Mistake chain

**Chapter 4: Mistake chain**

_**Steve breathes a couple of times, trying to calm down, "At first, I didn't know that ... I thought I was invincible because I believed that, what had worked in Afghanistan would work here ... Danny taught me it's not like that ... He has been with me, saving me from myself ... And now I'm not going to let him down! ... I swear I'll find out the truth to get him out of this, even if it's the last thing I do in my life ... "** _

He gets up from the chair and walks, determined, to the exit, while Lou asks, "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm going with the kids to search in that basement from top to bottom ... There must be something there, Lou and I'm going to find it ... Listen, can you do me a favor?"

The captain agrees with conviction, "Whatever you need, buddy..."

"Go with Danny ... Nobody can understand better than you, what he's feeling right now. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think he should be alone at this moment "

Lou shrugs and says "I'll do it ... but honestly, I don't think he talks to me, Steve. He needs you. You are his best friend."

"Danny is mad at me Lou. He believes I don't trust him and thinks that is why he is suspended. I know him, and if I go to his place now, I'm afraid all I'm going to get is that, in the heat of the argument, one of us will say or do something we'll regret later and all this mess will only get worse. I'll talk to him when he's calmer, okay?... The best thing I can do for him now, is to try to solve this disaster. "

The captain sighs and says, "Ooookay! I guess you're right, our boy can be a little impulsive and thoughtless when he's furious ... "

"Indeed, he is .. Thanks buddy!"

Steve leaves his office, with renewed energy. As he walks in front of the smart table, where Jerry is frantically typing, he tells him. "If you get something Jerry, please call me, okay?"

"I will, boss. Good luck!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Steve goes under the yellow tape which surrounds the high school building. Duke and other HPD officer come with him, carrying a camera and some portable equipment for evidence processing. Steve has called Sergeant Lukela from the car, so that, in case someone from Five-0 finds any evidence to support Danny's version, he has the necessary witnesses to refute the possible Internal Affairs arguments. He knows Cage won't hesitate to accuse them of manipulating the evidence to twist it in Danny's favor.

His instincts and all his Navy training are activated, to detect anything that others may have overlooked. They go downstairs, directly to the basement, where Tani and Junior, along with a CSU officer, are searching for evidence in the supply closet. A school maintenance worker stands by the door, arms crossed over his chest.

As soon as he arrives, his gaze moves through the place and an uncomfortable sensation takes over his stomach, but he can't define it yet. It's as if his internal alarm is activated suddenly. "Hey guys, have you found something?" He asks. Tani gets up and says "Not yet ... but we're looking slowly and systematically." She then points to the CSU officer and says, "Steve, this is Officer Larson, from CSU. He came here to make sure to save properly any evidence we could find. " Steve shakes Larson's hand, tilting his head slightly. Tani speaks again, "This is Mr. Lively, he's the maintenance chief." Before Steve can say anything to the man, Junior calls from the other side of the room.

"Hey guys! I think this could mean something ... " Steve, Tani and Duke approach him, followed by Larson. The young SEAL is leaning on the floor, examining some strange black marks on the linoleum. Steve puts on the latex gloves and leans over, running his hand over the marks and feeling the texture; then says, "It's like someone has dragged something heavy ..."

He looks up to meet Larson's eyes, who says apologetically, "We can't know when those marks were made ... The school maintenance staff uses this room as a warehouse and heavy objects are constantly stored here." Ignoring the argument, Steve beckons to Duke, who begins to take pictures of the marks.

Then, he gets up and looks at the metal shelves supported along three of the four walls of the warehouse. They are full of cardboard boxes, toilet paper packages, cleaning fluids and other things. Steve looks at Lively and asks, "What's in those boxes?"

Without abandoning his position next to the door, the man replies, "Office supplies, you know, paper sheets, printer ink, pencils and pens, tape ... all this stuff."

Steve looks at Junior and asks, "Have you looked under the shelves?"

"Yes sir ... There is nothing there, more than accumulated dust and a couple of dead spiders".

"Danny said he followed the suspect until he saw him enter this room," Steve is deeply focused, thoughtful, he walks to the place where the professor's body was found. "This is weird ..." he says, frowning.

"What's weird?" Larson asks, losing patience.

"The professor was right in front of the door, but Danny says the gunshots came out of here ... the door was half-closed."

"Maybe the suspect used the professor as a shield ... that would explain why she got Danny's bullets," Junior suggests timidly.

"Maybe ..." Steve answers, but his tone indicates that the theory doesn't convince him. "Keep looking guys ... there must be something else here," he says, as he goes out back into the corridor.

Suddenly he notices something and the strange sensation returns to his stomach ... "This is wrong ..." he says, frowning again.

Duke looks at him intrigued, the old police officer knows McGarrett since he was a child, he worked with his father and has worked with Steve since the SEAL returned to Hawaii eight years ago. During that time he has learned not to underestimate the man's instincts, so he asks, "What are you thinking, Steve?"

"This place was not like this, there's something missing here..." his gaze retraces the corridor for the umpteenth time. "When I went down to look for Danny, he was covering himself behind a stack of plastic boxes which were right here ..." he says, pointing to the empty place next to the wall. "Somebody took those boxes out from here, Duke."

Sergeant Lukela looks at Larson, who shrugs, saying, "When we finished processing the supply closet, this employee came ... and we went up to help the other guys in the laboratory area ..."

"What employee?" Steve asks, anxious.

Larson answers, fearfully, "A man, dressed in gray overalls. He had his ID hanging around his neck ... He told me he had to get those boxes out of here, because they contained hazardous substances... chemicals for the laboratory, I think ... He said he had orders to check everything was in order and none of the containers had been damaged . "

Steve closes his eyes, losing patience, 'God!' he thinks, how could CSU people assign the scene to a newbie? Trying to calm down, he asks, "And you didn't think those boxes could contain some useful evidence?"

The young officer justifies himself, "Our orders were to process the room where the professor's body had been found! The main crime scene was on the first floor, in the laboratory area, so we went there after we finished here."

Taking a deep breath, Steve walks back to the supply closet, where Lively keeps watching, absorbed by the movements of Tani and Junior. Upon entering, Steve asks him, "Where did your man take the boxes?"

The man frowns and asks, "Boxes? What boxes? "

Exasperated, Steve looks at Larson and asks, "You said a maintenance worker moved the boxes, didn't you?" Larson nods, while Steve looks back at Lively, "You are the maintenance chief! When CSU released the scene, an employee asked permission to move the plastic boxes that were stacked in the corridor. "

Lively shakes his head, unable to hide his amazement, "Maintenance employees only work at night, commander. This morning, during the incident, none of them was in the building. Only the cleaning staff was there and they were evacuated from the building along with the students."

Steve can't believe what he hears. Trying to control himself, he says "Tani ... Please go with Officer Larson. I want a description of that guy, find a draftsman or someone to make a sketch of his face, and send it to Jerry, so he can check all the databases". She nods silently and takes Larson by the arm, walking with him towards the stairs.

Steve leans down to see the place where the boxes were before. Immediately notices a small wet spot. With his gloves still on, he runs his hand over the stain and brings it to his nose, "It smells like ammonia," he says, looking at Duke. Steve gets up and looks carefully the entire floor, at a short distance, almost a foot away, two drops of the same liquid, and a few drops some distance further. Steve begins to follow the trail down the corridor, followed by Junior, Duke, who doesn't stop taking pictures, and the other HPD officer. Shortly after they arrive at the metal grate through which he and his team had entered the building, only a few hours ago, when all this circus started.

"Our friend went out of the building this way ..." he says, shaking his head. Then looks at Junior and says, "Junior, follow the tunnel to see if you can find more traces ..." Duke looks at the young officer and says "Go with him ... " The two guys go towards the tunnel, lighting it with a couple of flashlights.

* * *

Lou arrives at Danny's house, parking his truck behind the Camaro. In silence, he turns off the engine and mentally repeats, for the umpteenth time, the speech he has prepared for Danny. After taking a deep breath, he gets out of the car and walks towards the house.

The door is open, so the captain, cautious, takes his gun from the holster in his belt and approaches slowly. Upon entering, he notices that the light is on. Tentatively says out loud, "Danny?"

An intense sob catches his attention, followed by a husky voice that says, "What are you doing here, Lou?"

The captain turns his head, looking for the origin of the voice and sees Danny, sitting on the floor next to the couch, with a bottle of beer in his hand. He holsters his gun again and closes the door, then he walks to the couch and sits a short distance away from the dejected detective.

"I came to see how are you, buddy," he replies after a couple of seconds.

"I'm fine ... You saw me, now you should go!" The desperation in Danny's voice is heartbreaking.

"Listen, Danny ..."

Danny interrupts him, "Look Lou, if you're going to give me now the typical _'it wasn't your fault'_  speech, save it! ... I don't need that!"

"I wasn't going to say that, Danny. What I was going to tell you is I fully understand what you're going through right now. "

Danny lets out a bitter laugh, "Yeah, sure ... because in your long and decorated career as a SWAT officer, you killed a lot of innocent civilians, right?"

"Listen Danny ... being a police officer means making mistakes. And I've made many of those ... One of those mistakes was the reason why I came to Hawaii, running away from Chicago."

"I know about that Lou ..." Danny's tone changes suddenly, "But that kid... Molina, it wasn't your fault! You didn't pull the trigger Lou, it was that sick guy who decided to kill his own son! ... You did everything you could ... But I ... "

"What happened was a series of unfortunate events ... It was dark down there Danny ..."

"Exactly, Lou! It was dark. I didn't have a visual of the suspect and I still shot and killed that teacher! Those are the facts! "

"Yeah, but someone was shooting at the place where you were!" Lou argues, bewildered suddenly by the ironic smile on Danny's face.

"Wow!" Danny exclaims, "at least one of my teammates believe me that someone was shooting at me! Because my best friend didn't do that."

"That's unfair Danny. You're being so hard with him."

"Unfair?" Danny's face is red with anger, "I can understand the governor wanted to suspend me Lou ... but why Steve did nothing about that? He stayed there and allowed me to be taken out of the case ... Now I can't even look for the damn bastard who got me into this mess! Cage must be rejoicing with this! "

Lou gets up and kneels with difficulty in front of Danny, forcing him to look him in the eye. In a very soft voice he asks, "Do you want to know what Steve told Cage when the guy told him there would be an Internal Affairs investigation?"

Danny doesn't answer, but he looks Lou directly in the eye, the captain continues, "He told him that all your actions were his responsibility, Danny. What happened at that school ... the death of that teacher, Steve told Cage that everything was HIS fault." Danny closes his eyes and a couple of tears slide down his cheeks. "Danny, Steve trusts you with his life! ... Now he's in that basement again, looking for evidence to exonerate you ..." Lou smiles slightly, trying to make a joke that lightens the mood, "The good news is Junior and Tani are with him. Because you know the man and you know he's capable of bombing the damn building, if that allows him to find the guy who shot at you. "


	5. Together as always

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank all those who have read, commented on and left kudos to this story. You are my motivation!
> 
> I know some of you are uneasy about how the CSU unit in charge of the crime scene released the scene so quickly and made terrible mistakes when processing it. I did it that way, because I wanted the key clues to be discovered by Steve and his team. I needed they were directly responsible for solving the case, despite the obstacles and mistakes that the other teams involved have committed. Please excuse the literary freedoms about this.
> 
> Thanks and enjoy reading

 

**Chapter 5: Together, as always.**

 

Tani has left agent Larson with the artist, to make a sketch of the suspect, and comes back to finish the search for evidence in the supply closet. Later, she goes out to meet Steve in the corridor, while Junior and the other HPD officer return from the tunnel.

"Did you find something else?" Steve asks, trying to suppress a sigh of despair.

"No ..." Tani answers, discouraged. "I was expecting there to be some empty bullet shells from the gun of the guy who shot at Danny, but nothing ... Maybe someone picked them up?"

Steve shakes his head, "There was no time for that ..." he makes a pause and shakes his head, saying, "Wait a minute... unless ..."

Duke looks at Steve again and asks, "Unless what?"

"Unless the gun had not thrown bullet shells..." Steve says quietly. Junior looks up and asks, "A revolver?" Steve nods and a few seconds later, asks "What about the tunnel?"

Junior replies, "We followed the trail of ammonia droplets to an exit which leads to an alley, next to Leoole Street. Obviously an ammonia container in those boxes was damaged and had a leak ... There are several tire tracks there." The guy shows him the pictures they have taken.

Steve sighs. At this moment, he hates this case! They must find something... whatever, to prove that someone was shooting at Danny, but there's no weapon or empty bullet shells; Resigned, he asks, "Junior take the pictures of the tire tracks to the lab, to see if they can get something and tell Jerry to check the traffic cameras for a suspicious vehicle coming out of that alley. There were many boxes, so it will have to be something big, maybe a Truck or a VAN. "

"Okay ..." Junior replies.

Steve pulls out his phone and starts typing a text message for Lou.

* * *

Danny is still in the same place, slowly drinking the last remnants of his warm beer. Deep in his mind, he knows Lou is right ... but he is so angry right now! How could everything go so wrong?

Slowly, he gets up and staggers to the kitchen, opening the fridge. He hesitates for a moment and takes another bottle of beer ... Lou says, watching him from the living room, "Do you really think drinking is going to help you in any way right now?"

"I don't care ... All I need is not to think ..." Danny walks to the stairs, saying, "I think you should go home Lou ..."

At that moment, Lou's cell phone starts to vibrate with a text message from Steve.

"Where are you?"

"At Danny's"

"How is he?"

"Not good…"

"I'm on my way…"

* * *

Half an hour later, Steve parks the Silverado next to Lou's SUV and mentally prepares himself to face Danny. On the way, he went to pick up some Indian food and a six pack of cold beer. Slowly, he gets out of the truck and walks towards the house. Upon entering, he realizes Lou is sitting on the couch, zapping incessantly the buttons on the remote control to spend time.

"Hey ..." Steve greets him and walks into the kitchen to put the beers in the fridge.

Lou gets up and follows him, saying "Hey ... Listen buddy, I don't think beers are a great idea right now." Steve looks over the kitchen table, there are four empty bottles. "I suppose then Danny has gone ahead with alcoho" he says.

Lou nods, "He's depressed, Steve ... And to be completely honest, I can't blame him." He takes a deep breath and drops himself into one of the chairs, looking at his friend. "At the Academy, they teach you everything ... except to face a mistake ... The death of an innocent civilian can haunt you for the rest of your life, believe me I know ... It's not something you can undo."

Steve nods in understanding and asks, "I know, buddy ... Where is he?"

"He went up to his room a while ago ... I asked him if he thought drinking was a good idea and he told me he was drinking because he doesn't want to think."

"Did he say anything else?" Steve opens a bottle of beer, drinking half the contents in one gulp.

"He didn't say much, I tried to talk to him, but he doesn't want to talk ... I guess he has to assimilate what happened."

"Okay, thanks, Lou. Go home."

"Listen Steve ... He's going to try to fight, he needs to vent, man" says the captain in a warning tone.

"I know ... I'll be here with him, Lou. I'm not going to leave him alone."

"Okay, buddy. If you or he need something, just call, okay? "

"We will ... Go home, see you tomorrow, buddy."

* * *

After finishing his beer, Steve goes upstairs and walks to the closed door of Danny's room. Gently knocks on the door with his knuckles ... There's no answer. Stealthily, he takes the latch and turns it slowly, opening the door.

The room is silent, lit only by the dim light coming from the street which sneaks in through the open window. The curtains flutter gently in the breeze. Steve looks at the figure on the bed. Danny is lying face down, his left hand is hidden under the pillow, the right hangs lazily on the side of the bed with his fingers brushing the carpet, next to another half empty bottle, whose contents have been spilled leaving a damp spot.

Danny's husky voice says, "I should have guessed Lou would call you ..."

Steve doesn't answer. Walks to the bed, sitting on the edge and breathing deeply. A couple of seconds later, Danny speaks again, in an angry voice, "What does a man have to do to be left alone, Steven?"

"Listen Danny, if you want to talk here I am ... If what you need is to fight to get your anger out, I can also do that, but you better know at once, that I'm not going anywhere... Listen, I have a better idea ... I brought some food, you must be hungry. "

Resigned, Danny sits on the bed next to his friend and hides his head in his hands. Steve puts his arm around his shoulders, "Come on, Danno! ... Let's eat something."

A couple of minutes later, both friends are in the kitchen, in front of a huge box of Tandoori Chicken, sautéed onions and vegetables and several pieces of Naan bread generously sprinkled with aromatic and golden olive oil. Danny has his eyes lost, while Steve pulls out a couple of plates and cutlery from the shelves and sits down, waiting for his friend to do the same. "Listen, Danny. Starving won't solve anything ..." He takes a bite of a piece of chicken and says," Mmmm. This is really good! You're going to love it! Eat and then we'll talk about the case, I need your help. "

Upon hearing Steve talking about the case, Danny raise his head and looks at Steve, "Did you find something?"

Steve takes another piece of chicken and wraps it in a piece of bread, while biting it he says, "I'll tell you everything after we eat."

A sad smile appears on Danny's face, as he sits in front of Steve, who continues eating with enthusiasm . It's not the first time that his friend uses this distraction tactic. Suddenly, he remembers what Steve told him, one of the few times he spoke cryptically about one of his classified missions.  _"It's called Lateral Thinking, Danno,"_  he had said,  _"The key is to clear the mind with other ideas, without losing sight of the main problem. The solution is there ... to find it, you just have to focus it from another point of view. "_

Finally, Steve breathes a sigh of relief, when he watches Danny sink his fork into a piece of chicken and bite him reluctantly. After the first bite, the detective looks up, unable to hide his surprise.

"It's good, right?" Steve asks, smiling.

Danny nods, chewing, reveling in the taste; After taking a sip of beer, he asks, "Pretty good! What is it?"

"It's Tandoori Chicken. It's a typical Indian dish. Noelani told me about this new place and I wanted to try ... I mean ... it looks a lot like the one I ate when I was in Bangalore."

Danny realizes that Steve is trying to make the conversation, at least for a moment, revolve around a different topic, instead to talking about the case. Gratefully, he takes the bait and asks, "Is there any part of the world where you have not been?"

Sucking his index finger, Steve replies, "Mmmm, there are many places where I've not been, Danno. While I was with the SEALs, my team was deployed mainly in South Asia, you know Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Thailand and Korea. I don't know much more ... Only some places in Europe and South America ".

"Well ... you know more countries than me ..." Danny answers.

"It was not exactly vacation, Danny. During the deployments there was not much time for sightseeing. "

"Yeah ... I guess." Danny eagerly drinks another sip of his beer, before Steve's worried look, and asks, "What about the case?"

Steve begins to tell him about the few finds in the basement. Danny listens intently, shaking his head occasionally. "So someone took the boxes out of there through the water supply network tunnel ... Why was nobody watching the basement? ... It's a crime scene!"

"That's what I asked the CSU officer in charge. Apparently the guy is a rookie Danny, so he missed many things. He thought that processing the room where the body was found, was more than enough, and he released the scene too soon ... All we have now are those tire tracks and a sketch with the description that Larson gave to the artist. I have Jerry and the team investigating that. "

"What about the guy who shot at me?"

"It's just speculation, but I guess it's the same guy that took the boxes out of there." Steve looks thoughtful for a minute and then asks, "Did you hide behind the stack of boxes all the time?"

Danny nods and asks, "That's why they didn't find the bullets, isn't it?"

"I think ... They must have been embedded in some of them ... The trace of ammonia tells us that maybe one of them pierced one of the containers that were inside those boxes."

After drinking another swallow, Steve asks, "Tell me something, Danny, do you remember how many times he fired?"

Danny frowns and says, "Four ... I think ... Yes, four," he looks at his friend carefully and asks, "Why? What are you thinking?"

"Because we have not found empty bullet shells in the supply closet, and I'm thinking that maybe the guy used a revolver."

Danny thinks for a second and says, "It's possible ... There's not much which we can work with, isn't it?" His voice is full of despair.

Steve answers, "Listen to me, Danny. I won't give up! ... It's not the first time we've faced a case in which we had little or no evidence at all ... We will also solve this. "

"Together?" Danny asks bitterly.

"Yes. Together, as always ... Look man, I know you're upset about the whole suspension thing, but the governor didn't give me another option. At least she's letting us investigate the case and put a brake on Cage and his men. "

When Steve sees that Danny doesn't follow his words, he says, "Danny, look at me. Your suspension means you can't go to the office and work there. But you can do it from here. You're my only witness, Danno ... I need you to remember everything you can ... Any detail can be useful." Then, he reaches out his hand, takes the half-empty bottle from Danny's hand, and says "But I need you sober ..." Danny nods silently.

* * *

Steve looks at his watch, it's almost midnight. He's sitting in the living room armchair, with Danny's laptop on his thighs and checking in the link with the traffic camera recordings within a three-mile radius around the school building, which Jerry sent to his e-mail a couple of hours ago. Unfortunately, the alley where Junior found the tire tracks and the last traces of ammonia, has no nearby cameras.

Danny is asleep on the couch, legs and arms tangled in the blanket that Steve tossed over him. Steve looks at him sadly and affectionately. Unable to avoid it, he remembers that time, seven years ago, when they were in a situation very similar to this one.

Only that time the roles were reversed and Steve ended up in jail, accused of the murder of Governor Jameson and Laura Hills. A mixture of affection and gratitude fills his mind. Danny was there, helping him to get out of that mess, doing what was necessary to prove his innocence. He could never get rid of the enormous feeling of guilt that invaded him when he knew that his friend had given up on recovering his family ... All for helping him.

With the back of his hand, he sharply dries a rebellious tear that escapes from his eyes without his consent. Silently, he gets up, placing the computer on the table, and walks gently to the couch, to accommodate the blanket and cover his sleeping friend, while murmuring, "I won't disappoint you, Danno. I won't let you down!"


	6. A promising lead

**Chapter 6: A promising lead**

_With the back of his hand, he sharply dries a rebellious tear that escapes his eyes without his consent. Silently, he gets up, placing the computer on the table, and walks gently to the couch, to accommodate the blanket and cover his sleeping friend, while murmuring, "I won't disappoint you, Danno. I won't let you down!"_

The next time he opens the eyes, an intense light floods in through the window. Danny is still asleep on the couch in a strange position, which tells Steve that his friend's neck muscles will rebel once he has woken up. Slowly, he gets up, trying to relax his own muscles while walking to the bathroom.

While brushing his teeth, the cell phone starts to vibrate. It's a text message from Lou "Good morning, buddy. How is our boy? "

Steve thinks before answering. The previous afternoon was better than he dared to expect, given the circumstances. Danny had talked to him.. he had eaten and slept, at least for a few hours ... It was definitely better than he had imagined. But Steve doesn't feel too optimistic. This whole thing is far from over and Danny will need all his will and patience to wait... And hopefully everything will be fine.

Steve knows that his friend won't remain impassive, while the team works to get him out of this mess, so he has formed a plan in his mind. His Ohana will take turns not to leave Danny alone for one single minute.

In silence, he types his answer, "As good as you could expect ... Is there something new with the case?"

"Maybe you want to come here, buddy ... Jerry has identified the kidnappers."

"Great! I'll be there in twenty ..."

Then, types a text message to Kamekona, "Hey Big Guy!"

"Howzit Brah! "

"Can you come to Danny's place? I have some work to do!"

"Of course…"

"Thanks Brah!"

He returns to the living room to see Danny, sitting on the couch, with his face hidden in his hands. Without saying anything, Steve walks to the kitchen and takes the jar of painkillers and a bottle of water from the fridge, a couple of seconds later, he comes close to Danny and sits on the couch next to him, taking two pills out of the jar and givig  them to Danny, with the bottle of water. "The hangover is terrible, isn't it?" He says with a light tone.

Danny rubs his eyes with the palm of his hands and opens them slowly, taking the pills with a quick gulp of water, "Damn it! I feel as if a million drums were echoing inside my head!"

"Yeah! I figure... Listen, buddy. I have to go…"

"Is there something new?"

"I don't know yet ... apparently Jerry has identified those guys."

"Will you keep me informed?"

"Of course, man! ... Listen Danny, try to remember something ... anything you've seen, even if it doesn't seem important, okay?"

At that moment, they hear knocks on the door, and Steve gets up to open. Kamekona is standing there, with a huge smile and a plastic bag. The aroma of spicy shrimp invades the house in a few seconds. Danny greets the huge guy with a brief nod and looks at Steve with reproach, "I don't need a babysitter, you know?"

"Oh, that's cruel, Brah! You hurt my feelings ... " Kamekona says, entering the house and giving Danny the bag with the food. "I was hoping to hang out with you brah... and have some breakfast. Flippa and Nahele are trying to get more union benefits and they are driving me crazy! ... What do you say if we eat? These shrimp are superb, brah! "

"Okay! ..." Steve says, raising his hand. "I have to go, I'll call you if we find something ..."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the team is gathered around the smart table. On the screen, there are three pictures of the dead kidnappers. Jerry starts talking, "Theodore Banks, Jeremy Clemens and Jack Kona ... They are three minor offenders ... Criminal background for misdemeanors, robbery without violence and retail drug trafficking ... They have been in and out of Halawa for the last four years ..."

"Well ..." Lou says, "Apparently they finally graduated in Kidnapping and Homicide".

"Yes ..." Jerry replies, "I was investigating ... Apparently, while they were in prison, they met this guy ..." He slides his hand over the table to send the fourth image to the screen, "Thomas Anderson ..." Jerry slides the hand again and shows the artist's drawing of the suspect described by Officer Larson. "It looks like our guy, doesn't it?" He asks and without waiting for the answer, he continues, "This guy has been on vacation in several prisons around the country. He began his brilliant career in Vermont fourteen years ago, armed robbery and attempted murder ... The guy was drugged, he had consumed everything he could, and the police caught him assaulting a convenience store. Apparently during the arrest, he lost his temper and shot the manager who miraculously survived... He spent eight years in prison and was transferred three times, until he came out on parole ... "

Jerry pauses briefly and then continues, "He arrived in Hawaii soon after ... his mother lived here and worked as a waitress at the Aqua Palms. She became ill and he supposedly came to take care of her ... he was arrested when he missed a visit with his parole officer, a month after his mother died. The police searched the small apartment and found a primitive laboratory for the manufacture of methamphetamines ... They locked him in Halawa after that, but he came out, four months ago ... "

Steve walks to the screen, carefully observing the man's face ... a few seconds later he says, "Methamphetamines ... This whole thing could be about that ... Ammonia is an ingredient used for its manufacture ... Do we have a location, Jerry?"

"When he was arrested, he lost his mom's apartment ... The address he gave for his parole papers is an apartment in Kalihi, owned by his lawyer, Frederick Goldstein."

"Is there something about this Goldstein guy? ..." Lou asks.

"No criminal record, lawyer by trade ... Apparently he put a lot of effort into Anderson's defense ..." Jerry pauses again, as he types on the smart table, "Wait, here's something else ... It's an arrest warrant for contempt to court... Goldstein didn't show up, the last three hearings in a murder case he was defending, and the judge turned the warrant over ten days ago ... Nobody has seen Goldstein all this time. "

Tani asks, "HPD has search the apartment?"

"Yes, but they found nothing ... there are no signs of Goldstein. Officially the guy is missing. "

"Okay... We'll go see if there's something there. Jerry, please call Duke and tell him to meet us there." Steve walks to his office, while he pulls out his phone and starts a call. A few seconds later, he hears the female voice on the other side.

"Clayton ..."

"Hey, Ellie. Steve McGarrett. It's been a while!"

"Hey Steve! ... Indeed it's been a long time, but I don't think this is a social call."

"I'm afraid not ... Listen, I need you to do something for me ... I need a search warrant."

Three minutes later, he comes out with his Kevlar vest covering his torso; Tani, Junior and Lou come out behind him.

* * *

They've searched unsuccessfully for the entire apartment. There is nothing there... nothing to indicate the Anderson or Goldstein whereabouts. Frustrated, Steve is standing in the middle of the small living room, looking at Junior, who is rummaging through a pile of scrambled papers on a small desk. They are just some accounts payable and bank statements. At that moment, Tani enters, together with the building manager.

"Listen, Boss..." she says, after both men shake hands. "I think there might be something ... Mr. Malama says that each department has a small warehouse in the basement of the building, next to the laundry ... I asked him for the key, but he says he wants to see the search warrant."

Steve shows him the warrant that Ellie gave him a few minutes ago, and says, "Mr. Malama, this warrant lets us the search on all Mr. Goldstein's property ..." The old man quickly reads the document and returns it to Steve. Sighing says, "Okay ... Come with me." Before leaving the apartment, Steve looks at Junior and says, "Please, take all those papers to Jerry, let's see if he can find something ..."

The kid nods and answers, "Yes, sir."

* * *

The suffocating air in the basement stifles him for a moment, the heat is oppressive and a few seconds later, his shirt is soaked with sweat. Mr. Malama has opened the small warehouse belonging to Goldstein. An crappy smell forces Duke, Lou and the other two officers to cover their noses, as they enter the tiny room and start taking pictures of the whole place

Once his eyes have become accustomed to the gloom, Steve looks a big bundle wrapped in plastic packaging. He turns his flashlight on and approaches, bending over the corpse ... "I think we've found Goldstein ..." he says as he gets up, "Lou, please call Noelani."

Then, he begins to illuminate the floor of the tiny room. There are some empty plastic bottles stacked in a corner. He leans to see the label of one of them. "Ammonium sulfate ..." he says aloud, "Diethyl ether and sodium hydroxide ..." Then, he takes a plastic bottle containing a couple of white pills, reading again, "Pseudoephedrine ... Definitely, this guy is making methamphetamines". Duke is standing next to him, Steve looks up and says, "Duke, do me a favor, call CSU, ask them to come and process the place ... Make sure they send someone experienced this time ... "

* * *

It has been three days and the case seems to have stalled after what appeared to be a promising lead about the manufacture of amphetamines. In the bottles found in the warehouse, CSU has found Anderson's fingerprints, as well as the plastic that was used to cover Goldstein's body. The cause of death is a blunt blow on the back of the skull.

The traffic camera video showed a black VAN coming out of the alley, an hour after CSU released the basement of the school. Jerry followed the cameras recordings until he lost the VAN near Waianae Kai Forest Reserve. Two days later, a couple of tourists found the burnt remains of the VAN, on the side of Waianae Valley Road.

There is no sign of the suspect anywhere and Steve begins to feel more than frustrated. This morning has been Professor Kani's funeral and the entire Five-0 team has been there. Steve remembers the terrible moment:

* * *

_Danny has remained stoically next to Steve, leaning on the trunk of a yellow tree, wearing a black suit and sun glasses. The cemetery is crowded with young students and teachers, surrounding the coffin with tears in their eyes._

_Neither Steve nor Danny really listens to what the minister is saying at that moment. The hot sun falls inclemently on all of them, warming the already deteriorated spirits of all the attendees._

_At the end of the service, the professor Kani's sister walks determined towards them. Without saying a word, she stops in front of Danny looking at him with deep contempt. A couple of seconds later, a furious slap crosses the detective's face, whose only reaction is to look down, while Steve approaches and placing his hands on the woman's shoulders, takes her away from there. It takes a few seconds for Danny to raise his head again and run out of the cemetery. Without looking back, he gets into the Camaro and moves away from there at full speed._

_Steve and the team return to headquarters to review for the umpteenth time, the scant information they have obtained, while Danny's phone again sends his call to voicemail for the fifth time in the last hour._

* * *

He gets up from his chair and furiously opens the glass door of his office, entering shortly after into Lou's office, who looks up from his computer, questioning the commander with his eyes.

"Listen Lou ..." Steve says with deep sadness, "I have to find Danny ... He doesn't answer his phone and I have a bad feeling ..."

"Okay ... If you need anything, just call" the captain answers, "We'll be here and we'll keep looking to see if we can find something new that can help us."

* * *

Steve stands in the lookout besides the road, and sighs deeply as he watches the waves at the bottom of the cliff, pounding the sharp rocks in the shore. Danny is not there either. Steve has looked for him at his house, but Danny doesn't seem to have gone there after the funeral. Steve didn't want to call Grace or Rachel to not them make worry, although he doesn't think his friend has gone to see his daughter ... Not with his current mood.

After hesitating for a few minutes, picks up the phone; he will have time to apologize to Danny for invading his privacy later, but for the moment he needs to find him before his friend does something really stupid. "Jerry ..." he says when he hears the other man answering the phone, "I need you to track the Camaro's GPS."

He waits patiently for a few minutes, while Jerry is typing in the smart table to locate Danny's car. "I've got it!" Jerry says triumphantly, "He's in a motel in Wahiawa. I'm sending to your phone, the location right now. "

"Thanks, buddy." Steve ends the call and a second later, the phone vibrates with Jerry's message. Steve quickly gets into the Silverado and turns the engine on.

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity, he parks behind the Camaro, in front of the small building. The doors of the rooms are lined up next to each other; He walks in front of them, going to the office, located at the other end of the corridor.

Upon entering, he looks at a young man, about 18 or 19 years old, raising his eyes lazily to return them, a second later, to the small cell phone with which he was playing. A fan buzzes on the ceiling, sending waves of warm air. Steve goes to the counter, taking out his badge and showing it to the boy, who gets up from his chair with a frightened expression.

A couple of minutes later, Steve leaves the office with a key in his hand. Walking back down the corridor, he stops in front of the door of room number 12. He knocks gently with his knuckles a couple of times, but, as expected, there is no answer.

Without hesitation for a second, he puts the key in the lock and the door opens with a brief squeak. Danny is sitting on the edge of the bed, with a beer in his hands. Tears have left a damp trail on his face and his reddened eyes look at nowhere. Sighing, Steve closes the door and walks slowly, until sitting next to his dejected friend, who asks him. "How did you find me? ..." Steve doesn't answer and Danny smiles an ironic smile, "Yeah! I know... stupid question ..."

"Danno ... I tried to call you but ..." Steve tries to say something but Danny interrupts him ... "You should have assumed that I wanted to be alone, Steve ..."

Without letting the tone of his voice show his deep sadness, Steve replies, "I thought we had made it clear the last time, Danno. I'm not going anywhere."


	7. I'll be there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was especially difficult ... I wanted a sincere and emotional conversation between our two boys and this was what turned out in the end ... I hope you enjoy it and please tell me what you think.

**Chapter 7: I'll be there!**

**_Without letting the tone of his voice show his deep sadness, Steve replies, "I thought we had made it clear the last time, Danno. I'm not going anywhere."_ **

Frustrated, Steve gets up and begins to walk around the room, occasionally looking at Danny, who, one more time, has hidden the head between his hands. "Maybe going to the cemetery wasn't a good idea, after all ..." he says.

"No, Steve ... it's not just that. That woman is right. I fired without having a complete visual ... I didn't have a visual! ... " A couple of choked sobs interrupted him for a moment. His adam's apple flutters in his throat as he tries to swallow the knot that has formed there. "Because of that ... because of my mistake, that professor is dead!" Danny shakes his head, as if he wanted to take away that thought, and maybe ... just maybe, pretend that this disaster never happened... After a few seconds he speaks again, "And maybe you shouldn't be here. This could bring you a tremendous amount of problems... Listen, Steve, the last thing I want is for your career to be compromised by all this crap too."

Steve denies with his head, bending over, in front of his partner, until his eyes are staring Danny's reddened eyes, and firmly grasps his shoulders, "Listen to me Danny ..." He says in a loud voice, "What should I have to do to make you understand that we are together in this? I don't care about my career or the implications this may have for Five-0. The only thing that matters is that we are together and we will come out of all this ... No matter what happens, don't you get it?"

Tears fall freely down Danny's cheeks ... There's no shame for it. In other circumstances, he would try, no matter what it cost, to suppress the tears and sadness that threaten to crush his heart ... but this is Steve ... his best friend. The man who knows his darker side, who has witnessed his worst moments and who has always supported him ... without judging.

Steve slowly releases Danny's shoulders and pulls him up to wrap him in a comforting hug. There, they both remain in silence, while Danny releases the anguish that is suffocating him. Gently, his breathing slows down.

Steve moves backwards, allowing inertia take him until he's sitting on the carpet, in front of the bed, leaning his back against the wall and closing his eyes. A couple of seconds later, he opens the eyes again and slowly takes the bottle of beer that is still imprisoned between Danny's fingers. He brings it to his lips and drinks a long, deep swallow.

"I don't want to drag you into this mess, Steve ..." Danny says in a soft and sad voice, "You could lose everything... your reputation and everything you've worked so hard to build. Cage is capable to drag everything through the mud to shut down Five -0 ... Maybe if you were not involved in this, he wouldn't be so interested in discovering  _'the truth'_  ..." He says with sarcasm, "You're a coveted trophy, my friend ... A war hero, a Navy SEAL decorated by the President himself; the leader of the most successful task force in the history of Hawaii. This could be the finishing touch to close that bastard's  _brilliant career_  ... Maybe you should settle for the lesser evil and let things take their course."

This time Steve doesn't get angry, he just sighs, giving back to Danny the almost empty bottle, and closing his eyes. "Do you really think that matters to me? Danny, my life is beyond that right now. You're feeling guilty for that professor's death, but if you knew the amount of  _'collateral damages'_  that I had to deal with in my life ... If you knew the terrible things that I've done, maybe we would not even be in this mess, in the first place ... because you would have walked away from me a long time ago. "

Steve closes his eyes and the wave of memories invades his mind. His voice is serious ... slow. "There was once in Korea. We were ten miles from the Demilitarized Zone and there was a small village." Danny looks up, listening to Steve's voice, surprised by the turn the conversation has taken. Steve has always been reluctant to share the classified data of his multiple missions. At first, Danny seemed intent on knowing, at least in part, the details of Steve's military life ... he was fascinated by them, from the first time he saw, absorbed, the green screens in Pearl Harbor situation room, showing the efficiency of a SEAL team in action.

Frequently, he used a sarcastic tone when Steve refused to talk about Operation Strawberry Fields or any other classified mission. He had even investigated the meaning of all those colored bands that were attached to the Commander's uniform, just below the bright trident. Once, Joe had made him to understand about Steve's performance in his years with the SEAL Team, he had been outstanding and the man had earned the respect of his superiors and the admiration of his subordinates.

Steve has been silent for a moment ... Danny gets up slowly, walking to the small table and taking another two Longboards, returning to sit on the floor, next to Steve. "You don't have to talk about that, Steve ... I know you can't do it."

"I want to do this, Danny. I need you to know that I understand perfectly what you're going through ... because I've been there ... I've been through the same thing." He takes the beer from Danny's hand and drinks a sip. Then, he continues speaking in a low voice, as if revealing classified information was minimized by lowering his voice to a level in which, only his friend could hear him ... as if instead of talking, he allowed Danny to take a brief look to his soul

"It was a small village, just a couple of dozens of houses hidden among the lush and thick vegetation. The team guys and I were walking among the trees. We had been haunting this armed group for weeks. Those bastards had been bombing our camps in South Korea. We had already lost three men ... "

Steve struggles to overcome the resistance to speak, which is so natural in him. He has spent so many years accustomed to keep silent, to hide all the horrors he saw and all the secret operations... This is difficult to let go now. But somehow, he feels comfortable with Danny, he trusts with his life, that nothing Steve is going to tell, will ever come from his brother's lips.

"There were five children playing on the riverbank ..." he says, drawing a sad smile, "they splashed and splashed each other until they were wet from head to toe ... and their laughter, Danny ... The kids laughter was so beautiful! ... We stopped there, just to look at them playing, until suddenly we hear a gunshot coming from the other side of the river. Those bastards started firing at us, not caring that the kids were in the middle ... " Steve sighs, and dries his eyes with the tips of his fingers.

"One of the bullets whistled next to my ear and embedded itself in the trunk of the tree on which I was leaning. We threw ourselves to the ground and started firing. I screamed at the kids, asking them to flee and hide ... They ran out of the water to get away, but one of them ... a little girl ... dropped her doll and came back for her ... She crossed right at the moment I fired my rifle ... I couldn't stop the bullet... There was nothing I could do, Danno ... She fell, splashing the river water, now red with her blood ... "

Steve hides his head in his arms that rest firmly on his knees and the sobs begin to sprout, uncontainable ... After a few seconds, he raises his head again and says, "We eliminated those guys with some gunshots ... When the silence returned, I sent two of the guys to check the perimeter, as I approached to the girl's body, who was lying submerged in the water, her doll was tightly clasped in her arms... I leaned over her and put my hand on her neck ... I think I wished she still had a pulse, even though I knew she was dead..." Steve takes a deep breath and ends by saying, "I stayed there, Danno, holding her in the water, I don't know for how long, until Freddie leaned over me, whispering in my ear that the girl's mother was standing there, on the shore, crying out loud for her daughter's death ... I will never forget the expression on her face ... the infinite anguish that was in her eyes when Freddie handed her the small body of her kid... Even today, that image tortures me many times in my nightmares. I can't help but think that, with that bullet, I cut that kid's life, depriving her of a future and destroying, forever, her mother's heart."

A crushing silence invades the room for an indefinable period of time. Danny and Steve are sitting there on the carpet, drinking beer at times. Danny can't believe what Steve has done for him today ... Recalling a terrible moment and allowing an old wound to bleed again, as intensely as if the heartbreaking story had happened just a few minutes ago. Reliving an involuntary mistake that cost a little girl's life, in such a distant place... A mistake that marked forever the heart of his friend with a deep, incurable wound.

But he would not be Danny Williams if he were not obdurate as the devil. He stubbornly says, "It's not the same, Steve. You were at war, you were shooting at terrorists who threatened not only your and your team's lives, but the lives of all the people in that village. What happened was an accident ... "

"Don't you think I've repeated those same words to myself, a million times during all these years, while I woke up, sweating and screaming? Each time, Danny ... Every damn time I've repeated the same thing to myself. "

"Yes, but there was no way you could have foreseen that those bastards were going to shoot without caring that those children were in danger. It was terrible that little girl got in the way of the bullet, but that wasn't your fault. "

Steve turns his body to sit again in front of Danny and says "And who can say that was not exactly what happened in that basement, Danno? Who, at this moment, can say that Anderson didn't do just that? Maybe he shot at you, knowing that the teacher's life was in danger and even he could use her as a shield ... Or maybe she was hiding there and in her escape, Anderson ran into her in that closet ... A thousand things could have happened in there, Danny. "

Steve places his right hand on Danny's chin, forcing him to raise his face and look him straight in the eye, "The truth is, at this moment, we don't have a damn idea of what really happened there, but let's find out and when we know all the truth, without conjectures, we will face what we have to face ... together, okay?"

Danny nods, not very convinced, but feeling grateful and honored by the unconditional trust and friendship that Steve shows him every day.

"Listen, Danno ... I'm not saying this is going to be easy, okay? It will stay with you every day of your live, but I promise, you will learn to overcome it and live with it. There will be difficult days, when guilt will drown you until you can't breathe, but I'll be there ... every step of the way I'll be there, with you, and we'll solve it together ... "

Danny's hand closes shakily around Steve's fingers, who holds him as if Danny was hanging from a cliff and the only thing that could prevent his fall is that firm, invincible hand that pulls him up strongly.

"Listen ..." Steve says, after a few seconds, when his breathing has normalized. He had not realized he was breathing hard because of the intense and contradictory emotions accumulated during the last minutes, "I think I need to get up, buddy ... I'm numb and I can't feel my ass anymore."

Danny lets out a weak laugh and starts to move too, without letting go of Steve's hand, who pulls him to help him to get up. They look at each other for a minute or two, then, Danny hugs Steve and whispers "Thank you, brother ..."

At that moment, Steve's phone rings, insistent. He moves away from Danny, keeping his left hand on his friend's shoulder, while with the right hand he brings the phone to his ear and growls, "McGarret ..."

Steve listens in silence for a minute and Danny can see that the expression on his face changes to his typical aneurysm face. Steve asks, "Are you sure? This could be what we were looking for ... " He listens in silence, again, for a moment and then says, " Okay... we're going to go there. Call Lou and the kids. We'll meet at headquarters in ten minutes ... and Jerry ... Good job, buddy! "


	8. Back to the fight

**Chapter 8: Back to the fight**

**_Steve listens in silence for a minute and Danny can see that the expression on his face changes to his typical aneurysm face. Steve asks, "Are you sure? This could be what we were looking for ... " He listens in silence, again, for a moment and then says, " Okay... we're going to go there. Call Lou and the kids. We'll meet at headquarters in ten minutes ... and Jerry ... Good job, buddy! "_ **

"What is it?" Danny asks, frowning.

"Jerry has been looking for something to help us, and it seems there's a lead ... it looks like he has the location of Anderson ... It's an apartment in Kaneohe."

"Okay, what are we waiting for?" Danny turns around and takes his jacket from the back of the chair, but Steve stops him ...

"Wait, wait a minute, Danno! ... You can't go there. I'll meet the team and we'll go to that apartment ... " Before Danny's disappointed look, Steve tells him, "I'm sorry, buddy. You know there's nothing I'd like more than you could go there and arrest that SOB, but you're suspended and I'm not going to give Cage the chance to screw us up... Listen, buddy, I'll keep you informed ... I promise. Go home and I'll call you, okay?" Danny nods, in silence, unable to hide his deep frustration.

Steve collapses in the driver seat of the Silverado, snorting to contain the impotence ... It bothers him not to be able to take Danny to the raid, but his back is against the wall ... He looks in the rearview mirror, his friend's hunched figure, who gets into the Camaro and disappears from his sight at full speed. Trying to concentrate, picks up the phone and presses the call button. God knows he has had a hard time following the proper police procedure in this case, but he won't risk anything. He knows Cage will take any pretext to ruin Danny's life... or his, so he won't leave anything to chance.

"Ellie ..." he says when she answers, "I need another search warrant ... Okay, thank you... I owe you. Longboards at Side Street on me, next time, okay?"

* * *

Ten minutes later, he pushes the glass door at Five-0's headquarters, to meet Lou and the rest of the team, who are waiting for him next to the smart table. It takes a while to check the information Jerry found about Anderson's apartment.

Jerry is manipulating the information on the smart table, while occasionally looking at the other members of the team, "Well ... I was looking for any information related to Anderson ... First: the black VAN we saw in the traffic cameras, remember?" Without waiting for an answer, Jerry continues. "The VAN was sold in a used car lot two weeks ago; The name of the buyer and the documents he showed for the transaction are false, but Junior went to the lot this morning and showed to the manager a picture of Anderson... "

Junior takes the floor and continues "The guy was not very happy to cooperate with us, claiming the privacy of his clients ... but a threat to arrest him for obstruction, finally convinced him. He recognized the image of Anderson ... "

Jerry shows on the screen the image of an Arizona driver's license, with the name of Jeremy Bolton and says, "Obviously, the driver's license is false, I checked it with the Arizona drivers' register, but there's no match, until I thought about looking it up on the property records in Oahu ... I've found out that our friend Bolton, alias Anderson, rented the apartment in Kaneohe, a week ago. We've already talked to the building maintenance manager, he says he has not seen Bolton in a couple of days." At that moment, Ellie Clayton enters almost running, to give Steve the sheet of paper that contains the search warrant for Jeremy Bolton's apartment.

* * *

Half an hour later, the Silverado travels the H3 highway heading Kaneohe. Steve is silent. His last conversation with Danny goes around in his head again and again ... He had never seen his friend so depressed. Junior doesn't dare to interrupt the thoughts of his boss, so he looks out the window, wishing that this horrible case ends once and for all.

A short time later, the Silverado and Lou's Black Suburban stop in front of an old and decrepit apartment building, along with two HPD patrol cars ... The paint is old and chipped, the rails are rusted and an old pool with cracked walls is embeded in the ground, with enough stinky water to be the playground for many insects.

"Listen," Steve says, as he puts on his vest and checks the magazine of his gun, "This Anderson is a dangerous guy, he's a suspect in two homicide cases, and he has a long record of manufacturing and distributing narcotics. Lou ... " his laser-focused gaze fixed on the tall captain," Tani and you, along with a couple of HPD officers will watch the perimeter of the building, in case our suspect tries to escape ... The rest, with me. "

They begin to climb the stairs ... Steve in front, with his weapon ready, Junior, Duke and the other two cops come behind. Upon arriving at the apartment, Steve gives two loud knocks on the door, shouting, "Jeremy Bolton ... Five-0!"

For a few seconds, the buzzing of an old boiler and the distant noise of an airplane are the only sounds they hear ... Steve tries for the second time, "Jeremy Bolton ... open the door!" but there is no answer.

Finally, Steve kicks hard on the lock, which explode between a pile of splinters of dry and discolored wood, while the door revolves on its hinges ... Everyone enters and begins to check the small apartment, until Junior shouts from the room, " Sir ... come here! "

Everyone runs to meet Junior who is standing, next to a messy double bed. On the floor, between the wall and the bed, with a huge bullet hole in the forehead, the lifeless body of Thomas Anderson.

"Damn it!" Steve spits, furious and frustrated. Every time he thinks he has a good lead, something happens. It's as if someone is trying to tie up all the loose ends. Desperate, he turns around to leave the room and begins a frantic search. "Junior ... we have to look ... there must be something here ..."

* * *

Six days have elapsed since they found Bolton's body and the case doesn't seem to go anywhere ... Steve is sitting in front of his desk, with a lost look and feeling an impotence he had never felt before ... He hates this, not having control ... control that seems to escape from his hands, like water between his fingers.

Danny had not taken the news of Bolton's death very well, because they had returned to the beginning, or worse. All his determination to hope for the best and the confidence that the team would find out, sooner or later some lead, an evidence, or something that can prove that someone had fired against him in that basement, had slowly dissolved into the amber liquid of countless beer bottles and whiskey glasses.

Grace has called yesterday morning ... She has not seen Danno since all this happened and she's worried and sad ... The only thing Steve has been able to say is that he's doing everything he can to help Danno. After finishing the call, he felt useless and guilty for making Grace believe that everything would turn out well ... The truth is he's not so sure about that right now.

Cage had begun to push the governor to release the investigation and let him work, arguing that Five-0 was delaying the progress of the case, with some twisted purpose of covering up Danny. The governor had stood firm, reiterating to Steve the confidence that they can solve the case, but letting him know that her patience and that of all the IA guys would, eventually, end. Frustrated, he closes the screen of his laptop, takes his keys and his phone and gets up to go to Danny's house, like every day since all this began.

While driving his truck, he remembers everything that happened in the last week. Danny, drunk, lying in his bed, the mess of bottles thrown away and traces of food scattered on the floor. The worst day had been yesterday ...  _"You don't understand anything! ... You are the Super SEAL; the perfect commander! The one who never makes a mistake ..."_  The spilled hatred, coming from Danny's tone and words, had hurt him deeply. He feels guilty and, for the first time in a long, long time, he doubts himself and his own ability to solve the case and exonerate his friend.

_"You throw yourself into danger every day without caring about the consequences! But I'm not like you, Steve ... The consequences of what happened are going to haunt me forever!"_  It seemed that, among the large amount of beer consumed, Danny had forgotten that conversation at the hotel ... When Steve told him about that mission and the way he had killed that little girl. The words of his friend, released yesterday and addressed to him like a burning dagger, were a perfect replica of what Steve had felt after that fateful mission _,"I don't even know who I am now ... This has completely changed what I was ... You have no idea about everything I've lost!"_

Angry, Steve dries the tears that wet his eyelashes. The sound of the car's horn waiting behind him, takes him out of his slumber. He blinks quickly, to realize that the traffic light has changed and the impatient drivers rush him to move forward.

As he parks the truck next to the Camaro, the only thing he can think about is what he can do to rescue his friendship with Danny when all this finally ends. He fears what he has seen so many times during his military career ... Commanders and Navy officers with a depression so deep that they become unable to regain control, until their lives are in tatters and their families and friends end up giving up on them.

The truth is he's terrified ... he's afraid it will be too late for Danny and his friend's soul has been so damaged that he has banished Steve out of his life forever.

* * *

Two hours later, Steve returns to his office, head down and shrunken shoulders. A huge bruise is showing up on his cheek and his head hurts miserably. Walking to the small fridge, he takes out a bottle of ice water. Slowly and painfully he places it on his cheek, feeling a momentary relief at the contact with the cold surface. This time things had turned out worse than he expected and Danny had punched him so hard that he had made Steve see the stars ... An ironic smile is drawn on his face as he remembers the power of Danny's right hook... It has not diminished a bit, since that first punch the furious detective gave him, in front of Fred Doran's miserable dwelling, more than eight years ago. This time, Steve gathered all his control and his patience not to hit back.

Not to make things worse, Steve had to leave the house in a hurry and breathing hard, but not before asking Tani to come to Danny's house and take care of him, to prevent his friend from doing something stupid. Once she arrived and when Steve was sure his friend would not be alone, he went back to headquarters, with the urgent and renewed need to resolve this once and for all.

While he drinks, slowly, the cold water and lets freshness cool his mood, Jerry sticks his head in the door and, ignoring the huge red spot on Steve´s face, says "I got something ..."

As they walk to the smart table, Jerry begins to explain, "As you asked, I dug deep to find something about Jeremy Bolton ... It turns out that the real Jeremy Bolton and our friend Anderson met in prison. Bolton died one year later because a kidney failure, but the most interesting thing is that, apparently, Anderson started using his name as an alias since he left prison the first time. "

"There are a couple of bank accounts with the name of Jeremy Bolton ..." Jerry continues, with a smile from the cat that ate the canary, "I checked last year's account statements and look what I found ..." He slides his hand on the table for several documents to be shown on the screen, Jerry begins to highlight in yellow, some numbers and he continues explaining, "There are several suspicious money transfers ... always for the same amount, twenty-five thousand dollars, to two different accounts of the Bank of Hawaii, since January this year ... The last one was fifteen days ago. "

"Please, Find out who owns those accounts, Jerry," Steve asks, excited by the new information.

"I'm on it..." Jerry says, while typing frantically. Meanwhile, Steve types in his phone, a text message for Tani.

"How is my boy?"

"Snoring ... But tomorrow he'll have a hellish hangover, for sure."

"Okay, keep me informed"

"Of course, boss"

Before Steve looks up again, Jerry yells, "Wow! This is not what I expected!"

Steve looks at him surprised, "What, Jerry? What is it?"

"One of the accounts belongs to this guy, Frederick Lively, he lives in Waipahu and works ..."

Steve completes the sentence, feeling an uncontrollable anger seize him, "As chief of maintenance in Waipahu high school. That bastard! "

"Wait a minute ... do you know him?"

"The SOB was there, all the time, while the kids and I were looking for something usefull in the school basement ..." Steve pauses, trying to calm down, then asks, "And the other account?"

"This is the best part ... The other account belongs to Elizabeth Kani." Jerry pauses, waiting for Steve to react.

"Wait a moment ... Kani, is not ...?"

Jerry nods and then says, as he shows on the screen, the picture of a sadly familiar face, "Exactly ... The beloved professor Elizabeth Kani."


	9. The end of the skein

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this chapter took a little longer than expected, but finally here it is. An apology for the delay.
> 
> Thanks to all who have read and for their wonderful comments. I love you guys. Please tell me what you think and enjoy your reading.
> 
> We're almost reaching the end!

**Chapter 9: The end of the skein**

_**Jerry nods and then says, as he shows on the screen, the picture of a sadly familiar face, "Exactly ... The beloved professor Elizabeth Kani."** _

Steve leans, stunned, on the table. It's one thing for the high school maintenance chief to be involved, but this possibility never crossed his mind, the idea that Professor Kani had anything to do with it. For God's sake, the woman had called 911 and told the police about the kidnapping! His mind reverberates with the words Danny shouted at him eight years ago, when both were investigating the Meka case: "Our job is to go after the suspect, not the victim!"

In that occasion it was easy for Steve to consider all possibilities, including that Meka was the culprit, and that had taken Danny out of his comfort zone.

During the years of their association, he had tried not to forget those words, so this time he did exactly that: He looked for suspects in all possible places and people, except the victim.

His mind starts to spin, analyzing a thousand new theories. Looking at Jerry, he tries to form the words, while his thoughts are organized in his head. "We have to bring Lively right now! ..." he says finally, as he picks up his phone and dials Lou's number.

* * *

An hour later, the Silverado stops with a grinding of tires in front of the high school building. Duke waits with some HPD officers. Quickly, Five-0 and a dozen cops enter the building, before the astonished gaze of the security guard, who can barely see the brightness of Steve's badge.

In a few seconds, they are running along the corridors, stopping shortly after, in front of the laboratories area, a short distance from the staircase that leads to the basement. At that moment, Frederick Lively leaves an office located at the end of the corridor. As soon as he sees the unexpected presence of Five-0 and all those HPD officers, he freezes for a moment. Steve yells, "Frederick Lively ... Five-0! we need to talk ..."

Lively reacts quickly and begins to run down the stairs to the basement. Steve comes out like a blast behind him, followed by the rest of the team members. Before starting to run, Lou sighs, looks at Duke resigned and asks, "Why do they always have to run?" Without waiting for the sergeant answer, they both start running after the team.

When Steve reaches the bottom of the stairs, he can see Lively's dark silhouette running towards the metal door that leads to the tunnel of the water supply network. With his typical commander voice, Steve shouts, "Junior ... take a couple of officers and go to the alley to try to intercept him ..." He looks at Lou and Duke, who have finally reached the basement, and says, "Lou, we'll follow him through the tunnel, Come on, come on, people! Move!" Junior and two cops run up the stairs, while Steve runs, heading the tunnel, followed by Lou, Duke and the two other cops.

As they run, Steve illuminates the dark tunnel with his flashlight and listens to the rhythmic sound of footsteps splashing on the damp gravel floor, synchronizing them with the agitated beats of his heart. Suddenly they come to a bifurcation and stop, trying to guess the path the suspect has taken. The path on the left is the one that leads to the alley ... The same one that Anderson is supposed to have taken in his escape, that day.

Steve illuminates the floor, but he can't see footprints, or any other indication that Lively has gone this way; then, he illuminates the other path: there is a wet handprint on the irregular surface of the wall ... Lively must have lost his balance and held to avoid falling. Steve closes his eyes and remains attentive to the sounds that reverberate in the tunnel, until he hears a heavy but almost silent breathing. Without saying anything, he makes a sign to Lou, showing the way and they begin to run in that direction.

Suddenly, Steve hears the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking. Without thinking, he reacts quickly, pushing Lou to the ground and turning off his flashlight. The bullet passes by close ... dangerously close to his head and it's embedded in the rock wall behind him. In a barely audible voice, he orders Lou and the officers to keep their heads down and begins to crawl ... almost furtively on the dirty, damp ground.

A second gunshot reverberates in the tunnel. This time, the bullet has passed by, far away from him, which suggests that the first shot was a lucky one and the suspect can't really see them. He hurries a little, while slides with his chest against the ground. Lively's breathing is heard closer and closer.

Suddenly, he sees the guy ... The tunnel makes a whimsical turn to the right and there, in the corner, Steve distinguishes the man's black squatting silhouette. He closes his eyes for a second, trying to concentrate, then opens them and takes a couple of deep breaths, aims his gun and shoots. Immediately, he can hear a painful moan and the unmistakable sound of a body that splashes as it falls on the water accumulated on the ground.

At that moment, he turns on the flashlight and illuminates the place ... In his fall, Lively has dropped the gun and tries desperately to reach it with his left hand, while pressing the bleeding wound on his knee with the other hand. Steve quickly walks over and picks up the gun with his hand wrapped in a black vinyl glove; it's a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver.

After putting the gun in the side pocket of his cargo pants, he approaches Lively, who screams loudly; He leans over and places the plastic band around the wounded man's wrists and says, in a voice that sounds unusually calm, "Frederick Lively. You're under arrest for robbery and for the homicide of Elizabeth Kani ... "

"Homicide?" The man screams again, pitifully. "That bitch planned everything! ... She asked me to help her ... and I did, but I didn't kill her! "

At that moment, Lou approaches. The laughter erupts, deep and intense, from the bottom of his chest as he takes the suspect by the elbows and tells him his rights, before the stupefied look of the three cops, as he begins to walk towards the exit, holding his wobbly suspect.

* * *

Two hours later, Steve walks from one side to the other, facing a handcuffed Lively sitting to the chair. His screams echo in the isolated room of solid concrete walls and a trickle of blood escapes from his knee wound, to get lost in the drain hole at his feet. "I need a doctor, man!" he cries.

"And you're going to have one..." Lou answers him, without giving up for a second his cynical smile, "Once you've told us everything we want to know ..."

"What I want you to know, Fred, is that right now, you're up to your neck in serious problems," Steve tells him, as his eyes cast that terrifying look that makes a lot of suspects make a mess in their pants.

"Actually, I don't care what you did or did not ... All I want is for you to pay for what happened ... Because of you, a good cop's career and a great man's life are about to go by the drain, just like your precious blood!"

Steve takes a couple of breaths to calm down and then asks, "What was your relationship with Anderson?"

Lively frowns and asks, "Who?"

Exasperated, Steve takes his phone and shows Anderson's picture.

"That's Jeremy Bolton ..." Lively says. Tears of pain slide down his cheeks. " Liz brought him here ... She told me the man had a good business to propose to us."

"What business?" Lou asks.

"Bolton needed certain chemicals, but he could not get them by himself, so he wanted the school to buy them for him, along with the supplies for the chemistry lab ... Listen man, all I did was keep those boxes in the basement and deliver them to Bolton once a month. Professor Kani did the paperwork and prevented the rest of the teachers or the director from realizing what we were doing ... I needed that money, man ... I never thought someone would get hurt! "

Steve thinks for a minute, while sees, in his mind the image of Lively standing in the basement while the team was looking for evidence ... Without knowing why, he decides to risk, showing his best poker face and asks, "You did more than keep those boxes, didn't you, Fred? ... When you went down to the basement, immediately after the shooting, you found the gun and you hid it, right? "

Lively opens his eyes wide and stutters for a second, then resignedly replies, "When you and the blond detective went into the supply closet and found the body of Professor Kani ... I saw it... The gun was behind the shelf next to the door ... right outside the closet, I got scared and I picked it up. "

Mindful of his instinct, Steve reaches into his pocket and pulls out the revolver, asking, "Is this the gun you found?" Lively looks increasingly frightened, he silently nods and closes his eyes.

The door beeps and Junior pokes his head, making a sign, Steve and Lou get out of the room, leaving the terrified Lively, moaning and crying loudly.

In the corridor, Lou asks, "What do you got Junior?" The kid gives Steve a sheet of paper with Lively's personal information. After a quick read, Steve tells Lou. "Please, take the revolver to the lab, ask them to look for fingerprints and see if they can find any connection with an open case, tell them they must pay special attention to the pending cases of manufacture and distribution of methamphetamines. I need to go back, I need this idiot to tell me where he delivered the chemicals, I suspect that there we're going to find the boxes that were in the basement that day ... "

Steve goes back into the room, Lively's cries have been reduced to a lot of silent sobs. He walks menacingly towards the guy, who looks up, frightened. "What I want you to tell me now Fred, is where you delivered the containers with the chemicals..."

The man is scared and, losing all hope, he murmurs, "I want a lawyer!"

Steve denies with the head and says, "Look ... I'm getting tired of this crap. Personally I don't care if your stinking ass rots in a tiny 70-square-foot cell ... So this is your last chance to rescue what you can from your miserable life ... " He briefly reads the sheet that is crumpled between his fingers, "You have a son, don't you? What do you think he would say, if we add manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine, to the charges against you? " Steve looks satisfied as his words are achieving the desired effect in Frederick Lively's already disturbed mood. He leans until his face is a couple of inches from the suspect's red eyes, "Now, I won't ask again, where did you deliver the chemicals?"

Fifteen minutes later, Steve runs down the hall and enters the elevator. Upon leaving, he meets Duke by the headquarters glass door and says, "We got it, Duke! Lively is in the interrogation room, you can book him whenever you want ... " Steve turns around, but suddenly remembers something and turns to look at his friend, before he disappears in the elevator, Duke puts a hand to prevent the doors close, while Steve says, " Ah, Duke! I almost forgot, I think the guy could need a doctor. "

Sergeant Lukela smiles and the elevator doors close, while Steve continues his mad career to join his team, happy because finally, he can see the end of the complicated skein that this damn case has become.


	10. Exasperating wait

**Chapter 10: Exasperating wait…**

Steve gets into the headquarters at full speed. The team is gathered around the smart table, waiting for him. "Jerry ... I'm going to need your help here!" Steve says, as he starts typing on the smart table. "Lively talked about a warehouse on Pier 51 ...He didn't tell anything else." At Jerry's incredulous look, Steve nods and says, "I know, I know!... It's like looking for a needle in a haystack ... But it's the only thing we have. Please, find any relationship with Anderson or with Jeremy Bolton."

Jerry gently pushes Steve and begins his search; the rest of the team wait, with the look fixed on the screens. Two minutes later, a satellite map of Sand Island appears and a blinking red dot indicates the location of the warehouse. "I've got it!" Jerry exclaims. "The name and phone number of Jeremy Bolton appear as the contact data for this warehouse..."

* * *

Soon after, the team meet some HPD officers, in front of a huge building with white facades and metal roofs that sparkle brightly, reflecting the intense sunlight. Warehouses for all types of merchandise, are lined up side by side in front of them.

Steve shows a paper with the corresponding search warrant to the shocked face of the security guard, so the man has no choice but to open the padlock that secures the double rolling steel shutter. Junior and Steve slide it up, lighting their flashlights and covering their nose when they perceive a pungent and penetrating odor.

Inside, a large number of plastic boxes stacked on top of each other, practically fill the tiny space. "Okay, guys..." Steve says, looking alternately at the security guard, at the members of his team and at half a dozen HPD officers. "We'll have to get all this out of here ... You have to check everything systematically ... Everyone use protective masks!"

Forty minutes later, a lot of plastic boxes are piled up on the asphalt ground of the parking lot, in front of the warehouse. Steve is checking thoroughly every inch, until something catches his attention. A yellowish stain on the concrete floor, next to a pile of boxes that is still inside the warehouse. He leans down and rubs his gloved hand over the stain, then he brings his fingers to his nose. The characteristic smell ignites its internal alarm, looking up at Junior, he says "Ammonia ..."

Slowly, he gets up and starts reading the labels on the boxes ... "Ammonium Hydroxide ... Special Health Hazard Substance ... First Aid ... Emergency Phone numbers ..." Below, on the label with the recipient's name, Steve can read the name and the address of the High School of Waipahu. "I found it!" He shouts, as he begins to walk around the stack of boxes. On the other side, the third box catches his attention: There's a small hole a couple of inches from the base.

"Here! ..." he says loudly. Junior and Lou approach and begin to remove the boxes above. Steve takes the plastic cover. Inside, two containers of Ammonium Hydroxide, one of them empty. Carefully, Steve takes out that container and looks, enthralled, the inside ... at the bottom of the container, are the remains of what was a .38 caliber bullet.

Junior comes over and looks at the container ... "Is it usable sir?" He asks, doubtful.

"I don't think so ..." Steve answers, as he places the container inside an evidence bag. "The Ammonium Hydroxide is highly corrosive, but at least we know we've found the boxes that were in the basement of the school building, that day ... We must search in all these boxes, Danny said the guy fired four times, so there should be more evidence in these boxes. "

After a frantic search, in which the three members of Five-0 check the plastic boxes one by one, they've found two more bullets. This time, as if it was a strange miracle, the ammonium hydroxide containers were not drilled and the bullets are intact. Finally, in the last box, Steve finds the last elusive bullet embedded in the sidewall.

Carefully, he puts the three bullets into another evidence bag and turns to look at Junior and Lou, saying "Please take this to the crime lab ... I want the results today!"

Steve stays for a few more minutes, while HPD officers search in the remaining plastic boxes and make an inventory to move everything to the police deposit. Then, Steve gets into the Silverado and takes his phone, looking at it absently for a few seconds ... He considers for a moment to call Danny, to inform him about the progress of the case, but then remembers the disastrous results of their last conversation. While absently rubbing the remains of the bruise on his cheek, he decides to wait until he has all the information from the crime lab. Instead, he dials Tani's number.

"Hello?" She answers.

"Hey ..." Steve greets her, "How's my boy?"

"His mood is much better ... Grace and Charlie arrived an hour ago ..." Steve breathes a sigh of relief, while Tani tells him, "... the three of them are playing in Charlie's bedroom, putting together a huge city of Legos ..." Steve notices a light cheerful tone in her voice.

"Listen, Tani ... There are some news."

After talking briefly about everything they've found in the warehouse, they remain silent for a few seconds, until Tani asks, "What do you want me to tell Danny?"

"If he asks you, tell him we're moving forward with the case and we have Lively in custody. I want to wait to see what they find in the crime lab... "

"Don't you think it would be better to tell him? ..." she asks, doubtful.

"Listen ... he has already had many disappointments with this and ... I just.. I don't want Danny to have high expectations ... I'm pretty sure there will be a match between those bullets and the gun we took from Lively... but I want to confirm it before telling Danny, okay? ... I asked Lou to push the guys in the lab to have the results as soon as possible."

After finishing the call, Steve turns on the engine and leaves the pier yard, he drives to State Highway, heading the Palace. His mind is spinning. He wants to solve this as soon as possible and then go to see Danny and help his friend to collect all the pieces of his mind and his soul and recompose them. He knows it won't be easy, because the last few days have made his friend doubt about his aptitudes and police skills... The last time, he even talked about giving up Five-0, regardless of his efforts and the result of the investigation.

* * *

_"... I don't know, Steve. I'm thinking that this damn case is never going to clear up and Cage has everything he needs to ruin my career ... and yours!" Danny had told him, in a defeated tone and Steve's heart had broken into a thousand tiny fragments. He had never seen his friend like that... without hope, and that scared him to death. Danny had always been the one who had kept Steve's head on his shoulders, even in the most adverse situations and all these years, ever since he met him, he had never seen his friend giving up ... until now. However, although he didn't like it, he still thought he could help Danny to overcome this, until he heard his next words: "I'm thinking it would be better to quit Five-0, before Cage can put his claws on me and take advantage to ruin you too ... I don't know, maybe I could go back to Jersey, or somewhere else ... I don't care anymore. I'm tired! "_

_"What are you saying?" Steve asked, surprised and hurt. The possibility that Danny could leave everything in Hawaii and return to New Jersey had not crossed his mind before, without thinking he shouts, "Listen pal ... I'm doing everything I can to help you ... to solve this."_

_"Well, maybe you shouldn't, Steve! Maybe, if you let things take their course, you can get away from this crap. "_

_"I don't care, Danno! You don't understand, do you? Without you, there's no Five-0 anymore! ... " he makes a sad pause and then he mumbles, "I'm nothing, I don't exist, without you! Please, just give me time and I'll solve this." Steve realizes he's begging, but he doesn't care. Not anymore._

_"I think maybe it's time to go, Steve. No matter if you can prove that Anderson fired his gun in that basement. The truth is that professor is dead and I killed her ... my reputation is destroyed ... I don't know where to go without this! " Danny sobbed heartbreakingly, while Steve looked at him, feeling that the anguish pressed his heart, "I'm a cop, Steve ... Yes, I know I was thinking about retirement, but not like that ... I wanted to go on my own terms and with my head high ... If I can't have that, I don't want anything else."_

_Steve felt a profound helplessness at Danny's devastating words, without thinking, he muttered "Hell, Danny! I'm trying here ... and you give up! How can you be such a coward? "_

_Danny flushed with anger and approached Steve, giving him a hard punch in the face, "Coward? You call me a coward? You have no idea what I've been through, Steven! "_

_"I would have it if you told me!" Steve replied angrily._

_Danny walked to the door and flung it open, "You better go!" He had said. His voice distilled a venom that hurts Steve much more than his throbbing cheek._

_"_ _Danno ... I ..." He tried to say something, but Danny yelled again, "I asked you to leave, McGarrett! and stop worrying about me ... I don't need you, neither you nor anyone!"_

_Steve walked away from the house, sad and furious, at the stubborn Danny's reaction. He got into his truck and slammed the door with unusual force. He called Tani and ask her to meet him at Danny's place. While he waited, he breathed several times, trying to calm down. He didn't care that stubborn asshole pushed him away, Steve wouldn't give up on him._

* * *

Tears crowd in his eyes, preventing him from seeing the road. He furiously wipes them with the palm of his hand, while the memory of the fight with Danny keeps spinning in his head. At that moment, his phone rings, cutting the thread of his thoughts.

"Yes, Eric ... what did you get?"

Danny's nephew's voice sounds enthusiastic, "I have the results of the fingerprints found in the revolver ..." he says.

"And? ... " Steve asks, impatient.

"There are two sets of fingerprints ... The first one belongs to Lively ..."

"I know that, Eric ... The guy shot at us in that tunnel ..." Steve answers, trying to calm his voice, "But Lively was not in the basement at the time of the shooting, he picked up the gun afterwards ... The other set of fingerprints should belongs to the person who shot at Danny. Is there a match? "

"Indeed yes, and you won't believe this ..."

Steve tries not to lose his patience, "Listen, Eric. Actually, I'm not in the mood for riddles ... Whose fingerprints are those? "

"They belong to Professor Kani" Eric answers.

His foot press the break suddenly, fortunately, there is no vehicle behind him, so he quickly parks, letting his mind absorb this new information, "What are you saying?"

"Yes ... The other fingerprints on the gun belongs to the victim!"

Steve lets an idea forms in his head ... "We've been focusing things badly from the beginning! ..." he says, as things clear up, quickly and painfully, "All the time we assumed that there was someone else in that basement! And that person shot at Danny, but it was her! Our victim! ..." He says, unable to hide the sarcasm, "First, the deposits in her bank account and now this! " After a heavy and uncomfortable pause he says," Listen Eric ... I have to confirm some information. I'll call you later, okay? ... And Eric?... Thank you!"

Steve ends the call and quickly dials another number. When he hears the voice that answers, he says urgently, "Listen, Noelani. I have a question for you!"

"Tell me, commander," the coroner answers, intrigued.

"Did you perform tests to look for gunpowder residue during the autopsy of Professor Kani's body?"

"I didn't think it was necessary, Commander ... She's the victim, isn't she?"

"Apparently not ... Listen, we suspect she was alone in the basement during the shooting, and if those suspicions are correct, then Danny really fired and shot down his attacker ... Tell me Noelani, if we exhume the professor's body, still we have a chance to find gunpowder residue that can confirm, beyond any reasonable doubt, that she fired a gun? "

Noelani thinks for a moment and answers, "It may be, commander. The gunpowder residue remains in the hands for a while. Sometimes I've even found them after the suspect has washed his hands ... " She makes a pause and then continues talking, "Professor Kani's family requested a closed coffin funeral, so the cleaning I did after the autopsy was superficial. I would say it's likely that, if she really fired a gun, we'll find the gunpowder residue in her hands."

That afternoon, Steve walks through his office like a caged lion. Patience was never his biggest strenght. The puzzle has formed the image slowly and the pieces have been fitting little by little ... He hopes... he prays for finally the last two pieces fit, which would prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Danny is innocent and he killed that woman because she fired against him first.

Junior, Jerry and Lou are in the bullpen. An overwhelming and exhausting silence floats undefined in the room, broken only by the hum of the air conditioning system. The three team members exchange glances and turn their heads, from time to time, in the direction of the corner office, not daring to go there. Finally, they hear Steve's phone ring and look at him as he puts it to his ear. It remains there for a few seconds, before Steve ends the call and collapses on his chair, hiding his face in his hands.


	11. Reconstruction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are reaching the end. One more chapter left. I want to deeply thank all those who read, comment and all the kudos to this story. Thank you guys! I hope you're enjoying it

**Chapter 11: Reconstruction.**

**_Finally, they hear Steve's phone rings and look at him as he puts it to his ear. It remains there for a few seconds, before Steve ends the call and collapses on his chair, hiding his face in his hands._ **

Uneasy, Lou quietly opens the glass door of Steve's office. Doubtful, the captain gets into the office and sits in front of the desk. After a couple of minutes, in which Steve's breathing has slowed to a normal rhythm, Lou asks, "What's going on?"

Steve raises his head and his hazel eyes, swollen and wet, are fixed in the dark eyes of his friend. Taking a deep breath, Steve says, "It's over, Lou ... it's finally over!"

"What is it over, Steve?" The captain asks, trying to prevent the uneasiness from showing in his voice.

"It was Noelani on the phone ..." Steve begins to explain, while wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "She exhumed Kani's body and performed the tests to detect gunpowder residue ... they were positive."

A big smile is drawn on Lou's face. Steve continues, "She also told me about the ballistics tests. They confirm that the three bullets we've found in those boxes in the pier warehouse, came out of the .38 revolver that we took from Lively."

"Wow!..." Lou says, while the smile on his face becomes wider, "Then, I guess our boy is exonerated, isn't he? ... I think he'll appreciate it if you give him the good news."

Steve shudders for a second. Although he couldn't be happier with the result, he can't help but think about what happened the last time he talked to Danny.. the shouts, the punch to his face. He makes an effort to compose himself and trying, unsuccessfully, to make his voice sound casual says, "Do me a favor, buddy. Go see Danny ... Tell him everything and make sure he understands that it's over, finally!" Seeing that Lou frowns in disbelief, he says, "Listen ... I want to finish everything this matter once. I'm going to talk to the governor and the guys of Internal Affairs." Steve gets up from his desk and leaves his office, before Lou's astonished gaze.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Steve sits in an uncomfortable armchair, flipping through a National Geographic magazine, waiting for the governor to call him to her office. At that moment, Sergeant Cage enters and comes close to the desk of the governor's secretary, who asks him to take a seat and wait.

Noticing Steve's presence, Cage sits shyly and says in a low voice, "Commander McGarrett ..."

Steve looks up, with a flat and inexpressive voice says, "Sergeant Cage ..." and looks down again, pretending a renewed interest in the article about the large stone statues of Easter Island.

"Commander McGarrett ... Sergeant" the secretary says in a kind voice, "The governor will see you now."

Steve leaves the magazine on the small coffee table and gets up, walking in front of Cage, who looks at him confused, shrugs and walks behind the Commander.

The governor is standing in front of her desk when both men get into her office. "Commander ..." she says with a half smile, "I hope you have some news for me ... Please take a seat, gentlemen."

"Indeed, there is good news, ma'am. We've finally solved the case." Steve answers, the relief in his voice is evident. He spends the next sixty minutes telling everything about the details of the case, showing photographs of the evidence found in the pier warehouse and the houses that were searched. With a professional tone of voice, he answers all the questions and rejects the incisive insinuations of Sergeant Cage, about the unorthodox methods that Five-0 surely used to get all the evidence

The governor raises her left hand, interrupting Cage's last argument, and says, "I trust, Commander that everything has been done according to the regulations and respecting the proper police procedures ... I don't want the case to sink by some legal technicality."

Steve smiles, knowing, at least for one time, Danny would be proud of him, "Don't worry, ma'am. All the raids, Lively's arrest, the exhumation of Professor Kani's body and the obtaining of all the evidence, were done with the proper warrants signed by a judge ... The assistant district attorney, Ellie Clayton supported us with that and made sure that everything was done legally ... and HPD were the backup for all the operations."

The smile of satisfaction on the governor's face, along with the wink of complicity that she gives to Steve, makes Cage's stomach shrink impotently. He was sure that this was his golden opportunity to finally finish with Five-0, mainly with the pretentious Commander McGarrett and his noisy partner.

"Well, Sergeant Cage," the governor looks at the Internal Affairs officer, making sure he understands that there will be no further discussions on this issue, and says, "I think this dispels all our doubts... So we can free Detective Williams from all suspicion and allow him to go back to work." The man nods in silence, resigned. The governor turns her head to look at Steve and says, "Thanks for everything, Commander. You and your team did a great job. I'll wait the corresponding report. "

"Yes, ma'am ... You'll have it tomorrow morning ..." Steve answers and then looks at Cage with deep contempt, saying, "I'll make sure a copy arrives at your desk, Sergeant." Respectfully, he bows his head to bid farewell to the governor, and leaves with firm step, without giving a second look to the astonished officer of Internal Affairs.

* * *

The night air greets him, when he goes out and starts walking aimlessly. He breathes deeply, trying to calm down and feeling suddenly exhausted. Definitely this matter has test all his patience and resistance and has pushed his emotions to the limit. He struggles with everything he has against the enormous desire to go to Danny's place, to hug his friend and assure him that everything is going to be fine now, but a part of him feels deeply hurt by Danny's violent reactions and rejection. His last argument and his disastrous ending are still spinning in his mind.

If he's honest with himself, he understands the state of mind and the black prospects that have sunk his friend since that fateful day, but... Damn! Danny should have known that Steve was not going to give up on him and that, in the end, everything would be cleared up. He understands ... but that doesn't stop him from hurting like hell.

After debating with himself for a while, he arrives, without realizing it, at the foot of the King Kamehameha's statue. At that moment, his phone rings; Lou's smiling face greets him from the screen; he doubts for a moment and presses the button to ignore the call. Shaking slightly, he decides to delay the confrontation with Danny and directs his steps to the Palace. The best he can do now is write that damn report, so he can end all this crap.

* * *

Danny is sitting in his living room, after listening to the huge captain. For a moment he breathes a sigh of relief, looking at Lou and Tani and asking with an expression of disbelief, "So ... it's over?"

Lou nods silently, with a smile that aims to lighten the detective's tense state of mind.

Danny asks again, "The professor... She fired in that basement? It was her?"

"Yes ... Danny. It's confirmed. There's gunpowder residue on her hands, her finger prints are on the gun and the three bullets recovered from the plastic boxes that were in the basement, exonerate you completely. You answered the fire and knocked down the suspect who was shooting at you. "

Suddenly, Danny's expression changes, and his face contracts in deep pain, "I have to find Steve! ... Lou, where's he?"

Lou raises his hand in a reassuring gesture and replies, "He went to meet the governor and the people of Internal Affairs, to explain everything ... Calm down Danny and sit down. He will come when he has finished. "

Danny collapses on the couch, overwhelmed by a great sense of guilt, "I don't think so, Lou! ... The truth is I was an asshole. I told him many things ... horrible things ... Oh my God! I punched him, Lou! ..." Danny hides his face in his hands and lets the tears flow down his face. "And he was with me, holding my back all the time! ... all he wanted was to help me." Danny looks at Lou, his eyes are dark, sad. "He never gave up on me, did he?"

Lou gets up from the armchair and sits on the couch, next to Danny, putting an arm around the shrunken shoulders of his dejected friend, "No, Danny. You know he would never give up on you ... But stop tormenting you, man! Steve knows it was a natural reaction ... You were under a lot of stress ... he understands."

"Of course he does! ..." Danny answers sarcastically, "He understands, but that doesn't mean I didn't hurt him ... I need to talk to him ... ask him to forgive me, Lou."

"Listen ..." Lou says, trying to calm him down, "Let me try to call him first, okay? Let me find out if he already talked to the governor." He gets up and pulls out his phone, pressing the speed dial button.

Danny nods, silent. He feels terribly sad, he knows he made a mistake with Steve and that he will have to do whatever it takes to rebuild their friendship. He only hopes that he is still in time to make that.

* * *

Steve looks at his watch, it's 3:00 a.m. He has finished writing the report for the governor and gets up, walking slowly towards the printer, which begins to throw sheet after sheet with data, pictures of evidence and reports of the findings in the different crime scenes in this case; including the images and reports of ballistics and forensic analysis of Professor Kani's body. He has reviewed everything thoroughly to avoid any possible mistake, he doesn't want to give Cage the slightest opportunity to object the report.

He yawns loudly and takes the stack of printed sheets, finally, he picks up a pen and signs both copies. All he has to do now is sending them to the governor's office and Sergeant Cage's office, first thing in the morning.

Steve walks to his office glass door to reach the light switch, turning it off. He lets the darkness surrounds him and momentarily closes his eyes, trying to relax, debating with himself between the idea of going out and driving home, or simply collapsing on the couch in his office and trying to get some sleep. A couple of hours ago, the accumulated fatigue in his body and mind has reached its maximum level, so, in the end, he decides it's not a good idea to drive, because he risks falling asleep behind the wheel.

* * *

Danny collapses on his bed, exhausted physically and emotionally. Lou has gone home, trusting that he will be fine, now he knows the case has been solved and his reputation is clean again. But, for some reason, Danny is uneasy ... He was hoping that Steve would come, once he had talked to the governor to finally close the case, but his friend has not shown up.

He assumes ... no, he's afraid Steve didn't come because he's still angry at him for his last fight. God! He has been such an idiot! ... But his head was a mess and he thought he had lost his job, his friends and even his self-confidence. He's a fucking cop ... He told Steve. He loves his job, with the same intensity with which he loves everything else, he doesn't know or doesn't want to do anything else... and the fear of losing all made him the greatest fool on earth. He rejected and mistreated the only person who was risking everything ... absolutely everything to help him.

He has no idea how, but he must fix all this mess. Determined, he gets up and goes to the closet to take the first jeans he finds. Changing clothes quickly, he puts on a pair of sport shoes and goes out to the living room. He picks up his phone, places his badge and gun on his waist, more out of habit than out of necessity; then, he looks around the room, trying to locate his keys ... He tries to remember ... He throw them on the couch the last time.

He smiles when he sees the bright reflection of the metal key ring, half hidden among the cushions ... he bends down and takes it almost with fury. He goes to the door, turns off the light and goes out, setting the alarm. When coming next to the Camaro, he realizes he's running, so he tries to calm down, breathing deeply. Danny opens the car door and drops himself into the driver's seat. After closing the door and placing the key in the ignition slot, he lowers the glass window, letting the night air in and cool his feverish mind. He starts the engine, and steps on the accelerator pedal, enjoying the roar of the powerful machine and the wind that begins to shake his hair as he leaves to the street at high speed.

Danny begins to rehearse in his mind a thousand ways to start the awkward conversation. It has never been difficult for him to apologize, when he knows he has made a mistake ... But tonight he feels this is going to be more difficult than ever, because he knows it was not just a simple mistake. He behaved like a complete asshole and, despite that, Steve kept going on ... he didn't give up until he cleaned his partner's name, leaving aside the pain that he surely felt. Danny knows that, now it's his turn to take the next step, he just hopes that his friend can forgive him.

He stops in front of a red light, waving his fingers nervously as they rhythmically beat the steering wheel ... He's tempted to turn on the red and blue lights and the siren, to get to his destination as soon as possible, but he contains himself, breathing ...

Fifteen minutes later, the Camaro stops on the driveway at 2727 Piikoi Street. The house is completely dark. Danny frowns, while turning on the screen of his phone to see the time. That's when he realizes that Steve's Silverado isn't there. Anyway, he decides to get out of the car and walk towards the door.

In silence, he walks around the house until he reaches the back garden. The familiar view of the two wooden chairs placed almost on the border of the beach makes him feel at home. Slowly, he walks over there and lets himself fall into one of them, determined to wait for the arrival of his friend. He closes his eyes until he hears gasps and a few quick steps. Silently, he raises his head to see Eddie running up from the beach.

"Heey, buddy!" Danny extends his hand to stroke the dog's wet fur, smiles when Eddie shakes, splashing millions of drops of cold, salty water, "I missed you, buddy! ..." Danny says, as he scratches the animal's head lovingly . "Where's Steve, huh?" He asks, thinking that he would not be surprised if the smart dog answered him.

Eddie yawns, tired from the exercise and lets himself fall beside the chair, cuddling in the warm sand, within reach of Danny's hand, who understands and continues to caress him in a tacit agreement. Soon after, both are deeply asleep.


	12. Best Friends Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! This is the final chapter. I deeply thank all those who read, marked and commented this story. You are the best!
> 
> I wrote and rewrote this chapter several times, because I didn't like the first attempts at all. I hope that, in the end, it's well written and transmit all the feeling that our boys have for each other. Please let me know what do you think about this.
> 
> I hope to see you soon in a new story. Mahalo!

**Chapter 12: Best Friends Forever**

_**Eddie yawns, tired from the exercise and lets himself fall beside the chair, cuddling in the warm sand, within reach of Danny's hand, who understands and continues to caress him in a tacit agreement. Soon after, both are deeply asleep.** _

Steve awakes disoriented and with the muscles rigid by the uncomfortable posture. He must have assumed that falling asleep on the couch was not exactly the best idea. Pain grows in the back of his head while he looks the time on his watch. He barely slept for almost three hours, but his mind is clear enough to drive home without his truck ending up crashed against a tree or a lamppost.

He walks to his desk and quickly scribbles a note to Lou, asking him to make sure the case report reaches the governor desk and Sergeant Cage as soon as possible. He eagerly drinks a bottle of water and stretches his muscles, wanting to get home for his daily encounter with the ocean. He takes his keys and his phone and leaves his office, making a brief stop at the office of the former SWAT captain, and placing the folder and the note on the desk, then, he leaves the headquarters.

* * *

Half an hour later, Steve brakes the Silverado on the driveway to his house, with a deep sigh, he turns off the engine and gets out, walking quickly towards the door. After deactivating the alarm, he goes upstairs, jumping the steps, two at a time, to change clothes.

Wearing his swimsuit and with a towel hanging from his neck, he gets out of the house, walking to the beach. As soon as he opens the glass doors, a cheerful and carefree Eddie runs to meet him, wagging the tail.

"Hey, buddy! ... " Steve frowns and leans down to stroke the dog's head. "What are you doing out here so early, uh?" Eddie walks the short distance that separates them from the wooden chairs, Steve looks up and then realizes that Danny is there, sitting in an uncomfortable position and deeply asleep.

With a sigh, Steve straightens up and starts walking towards the beach. His friend's blonde head, with the hair stirred by the breeze, protrudes from the back of the chair; the neck is bent at a strange angle and the hands are tense on his lap with interlaced fingers.

Gently, Steve places a hand on Danny's shoulder to wake him up, avoiding to scare him. The detective slowly opens his eyes and looks up until his eyes meet Steve's, which look at him with a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"Hey ...! Danny says shyly, as a greeting.

"Good Morning! ... "Steve answers in a soft voice, as he sits in the other chair. "How long have you been here?" He asks, trying to guess the intentions Danny has, waiting for him out here. The truth is that, at this moment, he doesn't know at what point is their friendship, and where they go from here.

Danny raises his hands and rubs his sore neck, "I don't know ..." he replies, confused, "What time is it?"

"It's almost 7:00 am." Steve answers, resting his back on the chair and trying to relax. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply. Honestly he didn't expect to meet Danny so soon. He was wanting, at least, to have a couple of hours of sleep and meditate things through before call Danny. But things are the way they are. He opens his eyes again and looks at Danny, whose face has acquired a strange expression; He can sense a mixture of sadness and guilt.

Steve looks at Danny, whose unsuccessful efforts to relax his rigid muscles are accompanied by moans of pain. Steve draws a slight smile and says, "I think that spending the night here was not a great idea, pal."

"Where have you been?" Danny asks, trying to make his voice sound casual.

"I´ve been in the office finishing the paperwork of the case," Steve replies, turning his gaze to the ocean. The sun begins to appear on the horizon, dyeing the water with pink, green and blue tones. "Lou told you, didn't he? The damn case is closed finally. "

Danny nods silently, letting a couple of treacherous tears moisten his eyes. He tries to say something, but the knot in his throat prevents him from speaking without stuttering, while looking at the green and yellow remains of the bruise on his friend's cheek. "Steve ... I ..."

Steve raises his hand, in a sign of understanding and says in a conciliatory tone, "Don't worry, Danno ... I understand."

But Danny shakes his head and says, "Listen to me please, because I need to tell you this ..." He wipes his eyes with the palm of his hand and continues, "I know you understand, but the truth is that I was an asshole... You didn't deserve all the shit I threw over you ... But I felt so lonely and helpless ... I really thought my career was over. The only thing I could think about was that my reputation was ruined and I didn't know how to look my kids in the eye again if that happened. "

"Danny ..." Steve tries to interrupt his friend rant, but the man shakes his head so hard that his hair, rebellious, turns even more. "No, Steve ... there's no excuse for me behaving like that with you. You were always holding my back ... since everything started. You even told me about that terrible experience of yours with that kid, which I'm sure is classified information, so I could realize that you really understood all the crap I was going through ... and I ... I closed my ears and my heart to you, hiding behind my self-pity and some cheap beer and whiskey bottles ... I'm sorry! "

"It's okay, Danny. Really! It's fine... We're fine. " Steve answers, with a smile.

"No ... it's not ... The truth is that I'm scared ... I'm afraid of having ruined everything."

"Ruined what? What are you talking about? "Steve frowns again.

"Our friendship ... the trust between us." Danny tilts his head, staring fiercely at the sand that begins to warm with the sun, and trying to hide some new tears.

Steve gets up and stands in front of Danny, flexing his knees until his eyes are only a couple of inches away from his friend's troubled eyes. "Look at me, Danno ..." The blue eyes, red from crying, rise up and meet Steve's eloquent gaze, while his partner says, "It takes a lot more than an argument and a punch to ruin our friendship, Danno. You were in a very dark place, buddy. I've been there, believe me, and I know what it feels like ... the fear that everything you've worked so hard for and the life you've built will be ruined in a few minutes. "

He makes a brief pause, with the intention that everything he's saying, is completely assimilated by Danny's brain. "It's all right, Danno ... We're fine," his voice is soft but firm and his right hand rests on Danny's forearm, pressing gently to convey calmness and confidence.

A wave of heat and comfort penetrates gently through that simple touch, and begins to flood Danny inside. Slowly he draws a slight smile, as he discovers the sincere forgiveness in Steve's gaze. Danny leans forward, opening his arms and wrapping his brother in a hug that, without words, tries to show Steve, the deep gratitude and unconditional love he feels for him.

"We're okay..." Steve repeats, breaking the hug, placing both hands on Danny's shoulders and saying emphatically. "But I need you to understand that, no matter what happens, I'm here for you ... Just like you have always been here for me, Danno ... Ohana, remember?"

Danny nods vigorously as he says, "Yes ... I remember ..." He hugs Steve again as he says in a soft voice. "Thanks brother!"

"Anytime, Danno ... whenever you need. BFF's, right?"


End file.
